Digitized  by 

the  Internet  Archive 

in  2013 

http://archive.org/details/lifeofdanieloconOOcusa_0 


LIFE  OF 


DANIEL  O'COMELL, 


THE  LIBERATOR. 


HIS  TIMES—POLITICAL,  SOCIAL,  AND 
RELIGIOUS. 


6\ 

SrSTER   M.   F.  CUSACK.. 

•PTHOR  OF  ILLUSTRATED  M  HISTORY  OF  IRELAND,"  "  LIFE  OF  ST.  PATRICK,"  "  HOINHHUI^T 
■ECTORV,"  "  DAILY  STEPS  TO  HEAVEN,"  AND  NEW  LIFE  OF  "  FATHER  M/THBW." 


KENMARE  PUBLICATIONS. 


NEW  YORK: 

D.  &  J.  SADLIER  &  CO.,  No.  33  BARCLAY  STREET. 
Montreal:  1669  Notre-Damk  Street. 


BOSTOX  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHK8TNUT  HILL,  MASS, 


C  9 


Copy  rig-nr. 
D.  &  J.  SADLIER  &  CO., 


125105 


TO  TEX 

CATHOLIC  PRIESTS 

AND  TO 

THE   CATHOLIC    PEOPLE   OF  AMERICA, 

Sins  £iT* 

OF 

THE  MOST  ILLUSTRIOUS  IRISHMAN 

OF  ANCIENT  OR  MODERN  TIMES 

DEDICATED. 

WITH  DEEP  REVERENCE  FOR  THE  CLERGT  WHO, 

FOLLOWING  THEIR  DIVINE  MASTER, 
/LAVE  FORSAKEN  ALL  TEMPORAL  PLEASURES  AND  INTERESTS  FOR 
THE  8AKE  OB  THEIR  PEOPLE. 
WITH  TENDER  AFFECTION  FOR  THE  PEOPLE  WHO, 
WHILE    FAITHFUL   TO   THE   LAND    OF   THEIR   NATIVITY,  OR   OF  THEIR 
PARENTS,   ARE   NOT    LESS   MINDFUL   CF   THE   FAITH  FOR 
WHICH  THEIR  FATHERS  SUFFERED  AND  BLED 
IN  OLD  IRELAND. 


I 


PREFACE. 


T  is  strange,  but  none  the  less  true,  that  the  majo- 
rity of  Engl isli men  know  far  less  about  the  real 
state  of  Ireland  than  they  do  about  the  state  of 
continental  countries.  The  result  of  this  ignor- 
ance is  an  intellectual  disability  to  appreciate  a 
character  like  O'Connell's.  We  believe  this  ignorance 
arises  from  one  cause,  and  from  one  cause  only:  it  is 
impossible  to  form  a  correct  judgment  on  any  subject  when 
the  will  is  biassed  by  prejudice,  and  the  incorrectness  of 
the  judgment  will  be  proportioned  to  the  extent  of  the 
prejudice. 

It  has  been  our  one  special  object  throughout  the  pre- 
sent work  to  quote  from  English  authorities  for  proof  of 
all  assertions  made  regarding  English  misgovernment  of 
Ireland  Irishmen  do  not  need  such  corroborative  evi- 
dence ;  but  as  we  believe  that  this  work  will  circulate  as 
largely  as  other  historical  works  by  the  present  writer 
amongs:  Englishmen  of  the  upper  classes,  we  offer  them,  iD 


viii 


PREFACE. 


proof  of  our  assertions,  such  evidence  as  they  can  scarcely 
set  aside. 

We  are  very  far  from  wishing  to  add  strife  to  strife ;  but, 
the  elements  of  discord,  which  have  stirred  the  waves  of 
popular  opinion  for  some  eight  hundred  years  and  more, 
are  slowly  abating.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  gibbet  and 
the  triangle  are  no  longer  used  to  silence  the  cries  of  an 
oppressed  nation,  but  Ireland  is  not  spared  the  lash  of  the 
tongue,  even  by  those  whose  position,  as  rulers  of  a  king- 
dom which  is  said  to  be  "  united,"  should  suggest  a  wiser, 
if  not  a  more  paternal  course. 

The  prejudice  which  prevents  the  calm  and  dispassionate 

consideration  of  Irish  affairs  and  Irish  character  is  the 

result,  in  some  cases  at  least,  of  culpable  ignorance.  And 

yer,  unfortunately  for  the  national  credit,  and  still  more 

unfortunately  for   the   national  peace,    those    who  are 

most  ignorant  are  not  unfrequently  the  most  confident  of 

the  correctness  of  their  conclusions.    As  an  evidence  of 

this  prejudice,  warping  the  opinions  of  a  highly  intellectual 

mind,  I  quote  the  following  extract  from  the  conclusion  of 

Mr  Lecky's  essay  on  O'Connell,  in  his  work  on  u  The 

Leaders  of  Public  Opinion  in  Ireland  "  : — 

When  to  the  great  services  lie  rendered  to  Fits  country  we  oppose 
the  sectarian  and  class  warfare  that  resulted  from  his  policy,  tbe 
fVarful  elements  of  discord  he  evoked,  and  which  he  alone  viould  in 
some  degree  control,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  his  life  was  a 
blessing  or  a  curse  to  Ireland." 

The  most  cursory  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  Ire- 


PREFACE. 


ix 


land  during  O'Connell's  long  and  chequered  career  would 
surely  prove  the  incorrectness  of  such  a  conclusion.  No 
man  was  ever  more  opposed  to  M  sectarian  "  warfare  than 
O'Connell;  and,  indeed,  Mr  Lecky  admits  this  himself  iu 
the  earlier  part  of  his  essay,  where  he  says — 

"With  the  exception  of  his  advocacy  of  Repeal,  no  part  of  his 
Irish  po  icy  injured  him  so  much  in  the  eyes  of  the  English  people 
as  the  opinions  he  hazarded  about  the  Church  ;  but  judged  by  the 
light  of  the  events  of  our  own  day,  they  will  be  pronounced  very 
reasonable  and  very  moderate." 

How  entirely  true  this  statement  is  with  regard  to 
O'Connell's  public  career  is  well  known,  and  the  present 
work  affords  evidence.  His  moderation  was  the  result  of 
principle,  since  in  his  private  correspondence  he  expresses 
himself  as  he  did  in  public.  When  his  religion  was  attacked 
he  defended  it  with  the  vigour  of  a  man  who  had  a  definite 
creed  to  uphold,  but  certainly  no  u  sectarian  warfare M 
resulted  from  his  policy.  Class  warfare  had  existed  in 
Ireland  too  long,  and  that  which  pre-existed  certainly  could 
not  "  result "  from  I  future  cause.  That  he  M  evoked 
discord"  can  only  be  said  of  him  in  the  sense  in  which  it 
may  be  said  that  a  man  provokes  a  quarrel  when  he  is 
obliged  to  fight  for  his  rights.  It  would  be  quite  as  correct 
to  assert  that  Tell  evoked  discord  in  Switzerland  when  he 
r  msed  up  the  Switzers  to  resist  a  tyrannical  oppressor. 

Mr  Lecky  concludes  by  doubting  whether  O'ConnelTs 
life  was  a  blessing  or  a  curse  to  Ireland,  and  yet  we  think 


I 


PREFACE. 


Mr  Lccky  would  scarcely  deny  that  O'Connell  obtained 
emancipation  for  Ireland,  and  that  emancipation  was  an  act 
of  justice.  It  is  thus  that  prejudice  leads  Englishmen  of 
the  highest  intellectual  calibre  to  write,  to  think,  and  to 
speak  of  Ireland. 

There  are  two  evils  caused  and  fostered  by  this  preju- 
dice. Conclusions  are  drawn  on  false  premises,  and,  of 
necessity,  acts  follow  which  are  more  than  injudicious. 
The  Irish  are  admitted  to  be  an  intelligent  race,  even 
by  their  worst  enemies ;  they  cannot  fail  to  see  the  in- 
justice which  is  done  to  them  day  after  day  by  educated 
Englishmen  ;  and  they  cannot  fail  to  feel,  and  to  feel 
keenly,  that  their  misfortunes,  to  use  a  mild  expression, 
which  are  not  their  own  fault,  are  made  a  subject  of  ridi- 
cule by  those  whose  first  object,  whose  first  duty,  should 
have  been  to  alleviate  them. 

In  the  limits  of  a  preface  it  is  impossible  to  do  more  thau 
to  indicate  subjects  for  consideration  in  connection  with 
the  work  to  which  the  preface  is  prefixed.  We  can,  there- 
fore, only  give  Mr  Lecky's  incorrect  estimate  of  O'Connell'a 
character  as  a  sample  of  the  opinion  of  educated  English- 
men. Having  done  so,  we  descend  a  little  lower  in  the 
intellectual  scale,  and  quote  Mr  Lowe's  recent  observations 
on  Irish  fisheries,  as  an  example,  and  a  most  painful  one, 
of  the  flippancy  with  which  Irish  grievances  are  treated, 
not  only  by  some  educated  Englishmen,  but  by  men  who, 
in  virtue  of  their  office,  should  be  anxious  to  promote 


PREFA CE 


kindly  feelings  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  even 
should  they  not  he  bound  by  their  position  as  members  of 
Government  to  do  acts  of  justice. 

One  of  the  great  outcries  of  the  day  is,  that  politics  and 
religion  should  be  treated  as  separate  questions.  We  shall 
have  a  few  words  to  say  on  this  subject  presently;  but  we 
presume  no  Christian  man  will  deny  the  duty  of  practis- 
ing Christian  charity  in  public  life,  or  will  deny  that  the 
circumstances  of  our  birth  were  not  under  our  own  control. 
Mr  Lowe  might  have  been  born  a  poor  Claddagh  fisher- 
man ;  instead  of  holding  the  reins  of  government  and 
receiving  the  freedom  of  boroughs,  he  might  have  been 
toiling  along  the  wild  Atlantic  coast  for  a  bare  subsistence 
for  wife  and  child.  He  might  have  been  the  victim  of  a 
God-sent  famine,  which  left  hearth  and  home  utterly  deso- 
late ;  he  might  have  lost  his  little  all  in  that  year  of  misery 
and  anguish,  which  is  perhaps  the  only  Irish  calamity 
which  no  man  has  ever  dared  to  charge  on  the  Irish  them- 
selves. He  might  have  been  nn willing  to  beg:  he  might 
have  had  an  honest  pride,  which  kept  him  from  the  work- 
house ;  he  might  have  loved  his  home,  wretched  as  it  was, 
End  his  sea-girt  island,  poor  as  she  is,  too  well  to  emigrate 
to  the  great  Irish  empire  in  the  West,  where  an  honest 
day's  wage  can  be  had  for  an  honest  day's  labour.  In  his 
trouble  he  might  have  gone  to  his  parish  priest — the  poor 
man's  only  friend — and  prayed  him,  for  God's  great  love,  to 
help  him  to  the  means  of  getting  an  honest  living,  how- 


jlII 


PREFACE. 


ever  humble.  The  priest  would  have  replied,  "  I  cannot  help 
yon  ;  the  gentlemen  who  govern  the  country  will  not  help 
you.  The  troubles  of  poor  fellows  like  yourself  used  to  be 
called  sentimental  grievances,  there  is  another  name  for 
them  now — they  are  called  'amusing  grievances.'  The 
Scotch  fisheries  are  well  protected  by  English  gun-boats, 
and  well  assisted  by  the  English  Government;  but  you  are 
only  a  poor  Irish  fisherman.  You  have  at  least  a  choice : 
emigrate,  if  you  can  get  the  money;  if  you  cannot,  go  to 
the  workhouse." 

The  Claddagh  fisherman  would  have  asked  the  reason  of 
this  strange  inhumanity  ;  and  it  would  not  have  added  to 
his  affection  for  English  government  to  be  told  that  the 
gentleman  who  found  Irish  misery  so  amusing  admitted 
that  he  did  not  exactly  understand  what  had  caused  it  ; 
tli at  he  believed  the  bad  harvests  had  ruined  the  Irish 
fisheries;  though,  indeed,  he  did  not  think  that  could  have 
been  the  reason  ;  that,  in  fact,  he  knew  very  little  about  it, 
though  it  certainly  was  his  business  to  know  ;  and  that  all 
he  seemed  quite  sure  of  was,  that  it  was  "  aTnusing." 

The  Claddagh  fisherman,  some  few  weeks  after,  might 
have  seen — for  Irishmen  are  all  great  readers — an  old 
uewspaper,  in  which  he  would  have  found  the  following 
extract,  taken  from  a  speech  made  by  a  Cabinet  Minister 
at  Glasgow,  when  he  received  the  freedom  of  the  city ; 
a  cursory  perusal  of  it  would  at  once  explain  tbe  priest's 
meaning : — 


PRE  FA  CE. 


xiij 


■  I  will  now  enter  on  my  Last  topic.  I  have  made  it  last,  because 
it  is  a  little  more  amusing  than  those  that  preceded  it.  It  is  that 
Ireland  has  another  grievance.  (Laughter.)  That  grievance  is  this 
—  the  fisheries  of  Ireland  have  very  much  declined.  I  cannot  say 
exactly  why,  but  it  is  perhaps  the  reason  given  in  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  that  they  had  given  up  the  fisheries  because 
they  were  so  much  discouraged  by  bad  harvests.  (Great  laughter.) 
I  don't  think  that  could  have  been  the  reason,  but,  whatever  is  the 
reason,  they  come  and  ask  me  to  lend  them  money  on  personal 
security — (renewed  laughter) — the  security  of  the  fishermen  and 
that  of  the  priests,  to  lend  money  for  nets  and  boats  to  resume 
these  fisheries.  Well,  I  said  to  them  I  was  not  in  the  habit  of 
lending  money  in  that  way,  and  so  the  matter  came  to  an  end,  and 
they  assured  me  that  if  they  had  home  rule  it  would  be  done  at 
once.  (Applause.)" 

He  would  Lave  observed  that  the  gentleman  concluded 
his  speech  with  this  quotation  : — 

"Only  the  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 

And  it  might  have  occurred  to  him  that  a  quotation  from 
an  older  writer  than  Shakespeare  would  have  suited  his 
side  of  the  question  better.    Has  it  not  been  written — 

"  The  just  showeth  mercy,  and  shall  give." 

Tins  habit  of  meeting  Irish  complaints  with  contempt, 
was  reprobated  again  and  again  by  O'Connell,  and  yet  it 
Btill  continues.  Even  if  the  Irishmen  was  still  an 
"  enemy,"  it  would  be  unmanly  to  ridicule  his  misfortunes, 
when  those  misfortunes  are,  at  least  to  a  considerable 


PREFACE. 


decree,  the  fault  of  his  rulers.    Such  ridicule  reflects  most 

on  him  who  uses  it. 

It  is  indeed  scarcely  possible  to  take  up  any  work, 
whether  of  fact  or  of  fiction,  in  which  Ireland  is  mentioned, 
without  finding  this 'spirit  of  ridicule;  and  sometimes  its 
bitterness  is  more  than  a  joke.  At  the  present  time  an 
autobiography  is  dragging  out  its  slow  length  in  the  pages 
of  Eraser's  Magazine,  the  sole  object  of  which  appears  to 
be  to  throw  contempt  on  Ireland  and  the  Irish  ;  and  the 
suggestion  is  made  for  the  hundredth  time,  to  try  de- 
population, and  rather  to  (i  populate  the  land  with  Chinese 
and  reaping-machines,  with  monkeys,  or  any  other  animal 
but  the  Celt."  The  plan  of  populating  Ireland  with  beasts 
has  been  partly  tried,  and  does  not  seem  to  have  given  as 
much  satisfaction  to  the  proposers  as  they  expected.  How 
a  country  could  be  populated  with  "reaping-machines," 
is  an  enigma  we  do  not  pretend  to  solve.  The  plan  of 
extermination  was  tried  on  a  very  large  scale,  and  with 
very  great  success,  in  the  year  of  grace  1654  ;  but  the 
results  were  contrary  to  expectation.  A  work  has  been 
written  by  an  Irish  gentleman,  in  which  he  gives  statistics 
of  the  grand  transplantation  scheme  which  was  then  tried. 
The  accounts  are  taken  from  no  doubtful  source,  they  are 
compiled  from  State-papers.  But  the  result  was,  that  when 
English  soldiers  were  transplanted  to  Ireland,  they  were 
not  at  all  more  disposed  to  submit  quietly  to  injustice, 
than  the  "  Irish  enemy  "  whom  they  had  displaced. 


PREFACE. 


xv 


A  plantation  of  Chinese  and  reaping-machines  would 
probably  prove  a  failure  a' so. 

But  there  is  a  yet  deeper  depth  to  which  some  English- 
men descend  when  they  write  or  speak  of  Ireland.  The 
pages  of  Fraser*8  Magazine  are  defiled  by  the  suggestion 
to  "abolish  juries,  burn  the  Habeas  Corpus,  audi  erect  a 
factory  in  the  Lower  Castle  Yard  for  spinning  halters  and 
cat-o'-nine-tails."  The  suggestion  may  be  intended  as  a 
joke  ;  we  suspect  it  is  so  couched  to  hide  an  earnestness 
of  which  the  writer  has  the  grace,  as  yet,  to  be  a  little 
ashamed.  But  if  gentlemen  write  such  jokes,  they  must 
recollect  that  those  to  whom  they  would  not  give  that  name 
will  write  such  things  in  earnest,  and  probably  support 
their  degradation  of  our  common  humanity  by  quoting 
higher  authority.  It  is  not  long  since  a  letter  went 
the  round  of  the  provincial  papers  in  England  and 
Scotland,  in  which  it  was  suggested,  not  that  a  cat-o'- 
nine-tails  should  be  made,  but  that  it  should  be  used 
wherever  an  outrage  was  committed  in  Ireland,  the  parish 
priest  to  be  the  victim,  because  he  was  supposed  to  be 
cognisant  of  the  offender  through  the  confessional,  and 
up willing  to  give  him  up  to  justice.  Are  we  returning  to 
the  dark  ages?  The  suggestion  of  deeds  of  blood  and 
brutality  is  the  first  step  towards  their  accomplishment 
when  opportunity  offers. 

But  there  is  yet  another  class  in  England  who  do 
not  suggest  such  measures  for  the  pacification  of  Ireland 


PREFACE. 


cither  in  joke  or  in  fact,  but  who  seem,  nevertheless,  to 
consider  that  good  advice  is  the  one  thing  which  Ireland 
requires,  And  this  advice  sometimes  emanates  precisely 
from  those  very  persons  who,  for  various  reasons,  are  the 
very  last  individuals  who  should  offer  it. 

We  take  the  opinions  expressed  by  a  recent  article  in  the 
Contemporary  Review  as  a  sample.  It  may  be  said  that 
cpinions  expressed  in  reviews,  magazines,  and  newspapers 
are  but  the  expression  of  an  individual  mind;  but  this  is 
very  far  from  being  the  case.  Those  who  write  are  persons 
who,  either  from  circumstances  or  capability,  express  the 
opinions  which  others  entertain.  The  greater  number  of 
people,  both  educated  and  uneducated,  confine  their  read- 
ing to  such  books  or  serials  as  express  their  own  senti- 
ments on  religion  or  politics.  Publishers  and  editors  cater 
for  the  taste  of  their  public.  No  doubt  in  many  instances 
opinion  is  influenced  by  writers,  but  it  is  rarely  formed  by 
them. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  Irish  gentlemen  were  capable 
of  taking  care  of  their  educational  interests,  and  that  if 
they  required  advice,  they  would  scarcely  seek  it  from  a 
gentleman,  however  accomplished,  who  has  changed  his 
religion  more  than  once.  But  as  the  advice  has  been 
given,  we  may  consider  it  briefly  as  an  expression  of  Eng- 
lish opinion  on  an  important  subject. 

From  the  day  on  which  O'Connell  obtained  freedom  of 
education  for  Irish  gentlemen  to  the  present  hour,  a  certain 


PREFACE. 


party,  and  a  large  party,  of  English  gentlemen  have  tried 
to  fetter  that  freedom  as  far  as  it  was  possible  for  them  to 
do  so.  In  O'Conneli's  private  correspondence  with  Dr 
MacIIale,  he  reiterates  his  opinion  that  the  education  of 
Iri>h  gentlemen  should  he  contided  to  the  clergy  of  their 
Church.  If  Irish  gentlemen  wish  for  such  education,  is  it 
not  a  i:rave  interference  with  the  liberty  of  the  subject  to 
forbid  it  to  them. 

In  Mr  Capes'  article  also,  it  may  be  remarked,  in 
passing,  that,  while  it  is  entirely  free  from  the  sarcastic 
spir  it  which  disgraces  so  many  English  comments  on  Irish 
affairs,  there  is  nevertheless  a  de  haut  en  has  tone — n 
quiet  conscious  superiority.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that 
the  Irish  gentleman  belongs  to  an  inferior  race,  and  that 
"  we,"  the  people  of  England,  are  free  to  deny  or  grant, 
as  in  our  wisdom  we  think  fit,  with  but  scant  reference 
to  the  wishes  of  the  inferior  being. 

The  Irish  gentlemen  is  treated  throughout  as  a  person 
who  should  submit  with  thankfulness  to  the  regulations 
made  by  the  superior  wisdom  of  his  English  master.  The 
Irish  [feasant  is  treated  as  part  knave  and  part  fool,  ami 
as  altogether  iueapable  of  the  exercise  of  even  ordinary 
reason. 

Of  the  hundreds  who  have  read  Mr  Capes'  article  in  the 
Contemporary  Review,  few  indeed  will  have  read  his  long 
and  scholarly  Preface  to  the  "  Life  of  St  Frances  of  Rome," 
published  in  the  year  1855.    In  the  Preface  he  wrote  dins 


xviii 


PREFACE. 


of  the  Catholic  clergy,  at  the  conclusion  of  an  exhaustive 

defence  of  miracles  : — 

44  Whether  the  Catholic  religion  is  true  or  false,  it  is  beyond  the 
limits  of  credibility  that  its  ruling  principle  can  be  one  of  inten- 
tional deception.  .  .  .  The  Catholic  system  must  have  fallen  to 
pieces  a  hundred  times  over,  if  its  chief  ruler  and  his  subordinates 
were  mere  tricksters,  playing  upon  the  credulity  of  a  fanatical  and 
besotted  world." 

On  the  subject  of  miracles  he  argues  forcibly;  first, 
against  the  Protestant  opinion  that  Catholics  are  fools,  and 
then,  against  the  Protestant  opinion  that  Catholics  are  all 
knaves.  "  If,"  he  says,  "  we  are  sincere  in  our  faith,  it  is 
impossible  to  suppose  us  willing  to  be  imposed  on."  Writ- 
ing of  the  lives  of  Saints,  he  says  : — 

"  Thus,  too,  I  am  myself  engaged  in  a  similar  work,  either  laugh- 
ing in  my  sleeve  at  the  credulity  on  which  I  practise,  or  submitting 
from  sheer  intellectual  incompetence  to  be  the  tool  of  some  wily 
Jesuit,  who  enjoins  the  unhallowed  task." 

We  leave  Mr  Capes  to  select  either  horn  of  the  dilemma. 
Perhaps,  he  may  appeal  from  Philip  drunk  to  Philip  sober; 
but  under  any  circumstances  he  should  refrain,  in  common 
consistency,  from  offering  his  advice  to  Irish  gentlemen. 

When  English  gentlemen  have  quite  decided  what  reli- 
gious belief  they  really  consider  true — when  they  have 
decided  whether  they  will  believe  in  one  creed,  in  three 
creeds,  or  in  none — then,  but  not  until  then,  should  they 
offer  any  suggestion,  or  interfere  with  Irish  gentlemen  in 
tL,   '  oice  of  a  religion,  or  of  educational  guides. 


PRE  FA  CE. 


six 


The  struggle  is  a  hopeless  one.  It  will  be  better  to 
abandon  it,  and  to  have  peace.  Irishmen  only  ask 
for  justice.  They  do  not  want  more  ;  they  will  not  be 
satisfied  with  less.  All  through  his  long  and  stormy  life 
O'Conuell  was  breasting  the  waves  of  English  injustice. 
The  truth  may  be  evaded,  it  may  be  denied  ;  but  it  is  still 
truth.  Day  after  day,  week  after  week,  year  after  year, 
he  asked  only  for  justice.  It  was  granted,  at  least  in  a 
measure;  yet,  for  all  that,  much  more  remains  to  be 
granted.  If  Englishmen  would  take  pains  to  study  Irish 
history,  if  they  would  make  themselves  acquainted  with  a 
life  like  O'Connell's,  if  they  would  calmly  consider  why 
he  agitated,  and  for  what  he  agitated,  the  future  both  of 
England  and  Ireland  would  be  happier. 

But,  in  order  to  effect  this  desirable  end,  two  things  are 
necessary  :  first,  that  the  student  should  divest  himself,  as 
far  as  possible,  of  insular  prejudice;  ar.d,  secondly,  that  he 
should  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  facts  of  Irish 
history,  not  from  the  narrative^  of  those  who  have  dis- 
torted it  to  suit  their  own  ends,  but  by  weighing  the  state- 
ments of  the  oppressed  as  well  as  those  of  the  oppressor. 

This  view  of  the  subject  was  ably  treated  in  the  North 
British  Review  for  October  1869.  It  is  well  remarked 
that— 

"  Those  who  are  not  resolved  to  be  misled  by  a  fragmentary 
literature,  should  diverge  from  the  beaten  path  to  seek  its  comple- 
ment, ro  that  whatever  judgment  they  may  form  at  last  may  be 
formed  after  they  have  heard  both  sides." 


PREFACE. 


The  habit  of  forming  conclusions  from  the  evidence  of 
one  party  only,  above  all  when  that  party  is  the  one 
complained  of,  is  neither  wine  or  philosophical.  It  has 
done  more  to  deepen  and  widen  the  gulf  of  bitterness 
between  England  and  Ireland,  than  all  the  suspensions  of 
the  Habeas  Corpus,  or  all  the  promulgations  of  Insurrec- 
tion Acts. 

The  Irish  naturally  suppose  that  educated  Englishmen 
have  been  at  some  pains  to  understand  their  real  condi- 
tion, and  when  they  find  the  facts  of  that  state  denied  oi 
ridiculed,  they  can  only  conclude  that  the  denial  or  the 
ridicule  has  been  the  result  of  bitter  prejudice,  and  an 
irradicable  hatred.  The  lower  class  of  Irish  do  not  know, 
they  would,  perhaps,  scarcely  believe,  that  so  many  English 
gentlemen  are  so  ignorant  of  the  country  to  which  they 
give  so  much  good  advice. 

We  doubt  if  even  English  premiers  take  pains  to  know 
the  condition  of  Ireland  as  it  is.  Mr  Gladstone  may  read 
the  Times  for  information;  but  the  Times  will  not  tell  of 
landlord  oppression  or  tenant  wrong,  unless  some  flagrant 
case  comes  before  the  public,  which  i.s  forgotten  almost 
as  soon  as  it  is  read.  He  may  read  the  Telegraph  for 
sympathy;  but  a  ministerial  organ  is  not  likely  to  trouble 
the  ministerial  conscience  with  reproof.  He  may  read 
the  Standard  to  learn  Conservative  opinion;  he  will  find 
his  Irish  policy  roughly  handled,  but  he  will  know  well 
that  this  is  .done  chiefly  from  political  motives. 


PREFACE. 


xxi 


What  statesman  ever  troubles  himself  to  read  the  Free- 
man's Journal,  or  the  Telegraph,  or  the  Irishman,  or  the 
Cork  Examiner  or  Herald,  or  the  Northern  Star,  or  the 
people's  papers  in  Deny  and  Galway  and  Waterford  and 
Clonmel  ?  And  descending  lower  in  the  social  scale,  the 
ignorance  increases;  the  mass  of  middle  class  Englishmen 
know  nothing  of  the  state  of  Ireland,  except  through  the 
grossest  misrepresentation.  What  wonder,  then,  that  the 
countries  are  '"united"  only  in  name,  and  that  the  sever- 
ance of  this  union  is  demanded  by  those  who  are  hopeless 
of  being  understood! 

We  can  here  but  draw  attention  to  this  subject., 
earnestly  hoping  that  our  efforts  may  not  be  in  vain. 
There  are  thousands  of  honest,  earnest,  true-hearted 
English  gentlemen,  tradesmen,  and  mechanics,  who  would 
be  as  indignant  as  the  Irish  themselves  if  they  could  really 
understand  the  causes  of  Irish  poverty,  and  consequently 
of  Irish  discontent.  We  have  not  space  here  to  enter 
into  details  on  this  subject;  but,  as  we  have  throughout 
this  work  given  English  opinion  on  Irish  affairs,  well 
knowing  that  Irish  opinion  would  not  be  credited  by 
gome  of  our  readers,  we  give  briefly  now  some  English 
statements  on  the  causes  of  Irish  discontent. 

The  Irish  are  taunted  and  reproached,  I  must  say 
cruelly,  with  their  poverty ;  yet,  until  the  passing  of  the 
recent  Land  Bill,  they  were  not  allowed  even  a  chance  of 
bettering  their  condition.    They  were  to  make  bricks,  they 


xxii 


PRE FA CK 


were  cried  out  against  as  idle,  yet  never  a  straw  were  they 
allowed ;  nay,  if  they  even  attempted  to  find  straw  it  was  - 
taken  from  them. 

Enough  of  Irish  history  is  known  in  England  to  prove 
that  the  unhappy  Irish  peasant  was  not  allowed  to  till  the 
soil  for  himself,  or  even  to  practise  any  trade  until  the 
close  of  the  last  century.  Every  industrial  resource  was 
sternly  forbidden ;  how  then  could  capital  accumulate  in 
the  country?  Sir  John  Davis  said  the  state  of  the  bond  • 
slave  was  better  than  the  state  of  the  Irish  peasant,  "  for 
the  bond  slave  was  fed  by  his  lord,  but  here  the  lord  was  • 
fed  by  his  bond  slave." 

But  it  may  be  said,  all  this  has  passed  away.  We  must 
not  lay  thi*  flattering  unction  to  our  souls — no  mistake 
could  be  more  fatal — and  yet  no  mistake  is  more  frequent. 
English  gentlemen,  with  the  best  intentions,  will  express 
themselves  utterly  disgusted  with  Ireland,  and  will  fling 
aside  all  thought  of  doing  her  justice,  because,  as  they  say, . 
they  have  done  so  much,  and  she  still  complains.  They 
have  disestablished  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland,  but 
they  cannot  pardon  us  for  saying  that  this  disestablish- 
ment has  not  bettered  the  condition  of  the  poor  or  middle 
classes  one  iota.  Irishmen,  too,  cannot  but  know  that 
that  justice  was  done  rather  as  a  peace-offering  at  the 
shrine  of  public  opinion  than  as  special  kindness  to  them,! 
We  are  far  from  wishing  to  hear  of  the  disestablishment  of 
the  Protestant  Church  in  England;  but  if  it  does  not  dis-; 


xxiii 


integrate  itself  from  utter  inability  to  cohere  in  almost 
every  point  of  doctrine,  those  who  note  the  signs  of  the 
times  on  the  political  horizon,  are  freely  predicting  its 
speedy  dissolution  by  Act  of  Parliament. 

The  recent  Land  Bill  has  done  a  certain,  or,  perhaps  it 
would  be  more  correct  to  say,  an  uncertain  amount  of  good 
in  Ireland.  But  how  much  more  needs  to  be  done,  is  best 
known  to  those  who  have  personal  acquaintance  with  the 
miserable  state  of  the  Irish  peasantry.  There  are  ab- 
sentee landlords,  who  own  thousands  of  acres  of  Irish  lan J, 
whose  one  sole  object  seems  to  be  to  get  the  most  rent 
they  can  from  their  half-starving  tenantry.  They  may 
speak  well,  they  may  write  well,  they  may  enter  cordially 
into  every  philanthropic  scheme,  except  such  as  touch  their 
own  interests.  Yet  these  men  are  pointed  out  as  model 
landlords,  because  they  visit  their  estates  once,  perhaps,  in 
two  or  three  years,  for  two  or  three  weeks,  because,  at  the 
order  of  an  agent,  whom  the  unhappy  tenant  dare  not 
disobey,  costly  rejoicings  are  made  for  the  visit ;  but  the 
landlord  does  not  hear,  and  the  agent  does  not  care  for, 
the  u curses,  not  loud  but  deep,'*  which  precede  and  accom- 
pan>  the  demonstration. 

Even  if  no  other  evil  were  done  thereby,  the  with- 
drawal of  thousands  a  year  from  the  country,  which  is 
6pent  in  a  distant  land,  is  in  itself  a  most  grievous  in- 
justice. It  is  a  natural  law,  that  if  you  take  crops  from 
land  you  must  pay  nature  back  with  interest.  Thia 


PREFACE. 


natural  law  holds  good  in  political  economy  as  much  as  in 
physical  science.  Men  may  not  defy  the  divinely-im- 
posed conditions  of  nature,  or  if  they  do,  they  know  the 
penalty  ;  but  they  do  defy  it  when  the  penalty  does  not 
fall  upon  themselves.  Again,  the  tiller  of  the  land  is  the 
only  trader  who  does  not  receive  consideration  in  case  of 
loss  or  failure.  In  some  rare  instances — and  how  rare  they 
are  Irish  tenants  best  can  tell — some  consideration  is 
made  for  bad  weather  and  cattle  plague,  or  other  pro- 
vidential calamities;  but,  for  the  most  part,  there  is  no 
such  consideration.  The  rent  is  demanded  equally,  be  the 
crop  more  or  less,  and  the  unhappy  tiller  of  the  soil,  who 
has  already  lived  on  almost  famine  fare,  must  only  live  on 
less. 

No  country  can  prosper  unless  those  who  till  the  soil 
are  permitted  a  sufficient  remuneration  for  their  labour, 
to  enable  them,  in  their  turn,  to  encourage  manufacturers. 
Chinese  and  reaping-machines  might  support  absentee 
landlords  in  affluence,  but  they  could  not  raise  any  country 
in  the  social  scale. 

If  English  gentlemen  can  forget  their  manhood,  and 
degrade  their  nationality,  by  attempting  anything  like  a 
wholesale  depopulation  of  Ireland,  they  'would  hear,  not 
"Whisper  in  your  ear,  John  Bull,"  but  a  thunder  of  in- 
dignation, which  would  soon  break  out  into  thunder  of 
another  kind.  It  is  too  late  in  the  nineteenth  century  for 
such  folly;  and  as  the  folly  is  impractical,  it  would  be 


PREFACE, 


xx? 


better  for  the  self-respect  of  those  who  utter  it  if  they 
would  keep  silence  for  the  future. 

Taunts  like  Mr  Lowe's,  and  insults  such  as  have  dis- 
graced the  pages  of  more  than  one  English  magazine,  do 
more  to  widen  the  breach  between  England  and  Ireland, 
do  more  to  increase  expressions  of  Irish  discontent,  do  m  ne 
to  make  rebels,  than  the  speeches  of  the  wildest  Fenian,  or 
the  leaders  of  the  Irishman  or  Nation. 

To  honest  Englishmen  who  wish  to  know  the  true  state 
of  Ireland,  we  say.  Read  the  Irish  local  papers.  You 
will  find  that  even  at  the  present  day  the  most  cruel  and 
capricious  evictions  are  takiug  place  ;  arid  you  will  lind 
th;it  whole  tracts  of  land  are  reclaimed  by  honest  and 
industrious  peasants,  only  to  have  their  rents  raised  as  a 
reward  for  their  labour.  You  will  find,  as  the  able  writer 
of  the  article  on  the  Literature  of  the  Laud  Question  in 
Ireland  has  said,  "  Opinions  may  vary  as  to  points  of  policy 
suggested  by  the  popular  writers,  and  as  to  the  gravity  ard 
bearing  of  particular  statements  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  a 
thorough  understanding  of  the  Irish  question  cannot  be 
obtained  without  a  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  this 
literature,  and  a  careful  study  of  it."  In  this  article  also 
the  writer  fuliy  exposes  the  dealings  of  two  agents,  both 
magistrates. 

If  Irish  evidence  will  be  accepted,  we  would  refer  to  the 
statements  of  the  "  Meath  Tenant  Defence  Association,'*  as 
published  in  the  Drogheda  Argus,  and  signed  by  the  Very 


xxvi 


PREFACE. 


Uev.  John  Nicolls,  P.P.V.G.,  and  his  curate,  the  llev.  P, 
Kenny,  C.C.,  publislied  in  the  month  of  February  1872. 

By  law,  the  Irish  are  free  to  choose  and  practise  their 
own  religion,  yet  there  is  an  increasing  attempt,  on  the 
part  of  English  writers  at  least,  to  deprive  them  of  that 
liberty.  If  it  were  possible  to  find  any  individual  who 
could  look  at  the  whole  question,  and  consider  both  sides, 
his  judgment  would  surely  be  that,  until  English  gentle, 
men  claimed  personal  or  Divine  infallibility  of  belief,  they 
should  not  interfere  with  the  belief  of  others.  If  the 
Catholic  is  aggressive  in  his  religion,  he  is  at  least  con- 
sistent. He  believes  in  the  Divine  origin  of  his  Church, 
and  therefore  he  obeys  her  commands,  and  does  his  best 
to  induce  those  who  are  without  the  fold  to  enter  into  it. 
The  Divine  origin  of  the  Catholic  Church  may  be  denied  ; 
but  granted  a  man  believes  in  it,  there  is  no  inconsistency, 
logical  or  otherwise,  in  his  acting  on  his  belief.  With  the 
Protestant,  whether  he  protests  for  a  State  Church  or  no 
Church,  for  three  creeds  or  for  none,  the  case  is  entirely 
different.  Believing  that  all  men  are  left  to  choose  their 
religion,  and  not  being  able  to  deny  that  such  choice  leads 
to  the  selection  of  the  most  opposite  forms  of  belief,  he 
should,  in  common  consistency,  leave  the  Catholic  to  follow 
the  dictates  of  his  conscience,  without  even  so  much  as 
verbal  molestation. 

The  strife  between  the  world  and  the  Church  has  never 
raged  so  fiercely  as  at  the  present  day.    It  is  the  practice 


PRE  FA  CB. 


zzvii 


to  speak  as  if  politics  and  religion  were  two  separate  sub- 
jects, which  should  be  kept  carefully  apart;  and  vet  the 
two  subjects  always  have  been,  and  always  will  be,  insepa- 
rably united  while  time  shall  last.  Where  there  is  simple 
misapprehension  on  the  subject,  it  arises  from  not  clearly 
understanding  what  politics  really  are.  Where  there  is  a 
particular  bias,  as  in  the  case  of  those  who  are  constantly 
declaiming  against  the  interference  of  priests  in  politics, 
the  case  is  different. 

Politics  are  taken  simply  to  mean  the  rivalries  of  certain 
opposite  parties  for  power.  Even  taking  this  lowest  view, 
religion  must  enter  into  the  question.  In  England  we  find 
Mr  Gladstone  taunted  again  and  again  with  subservience 
to  the  Irish  hierarchy  on  the  Education  question,  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  himself  in  power.  The  entire  politics 
of  the  day  in  Germany  turn  on  religious  questions, 
and  Bismarck,  after  expelling  the  Jesuits,  is  occupying 
himself  with  an  attempt  to  get  rid  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy. 
"  We  may  wonder  at  the  authority  the  Pope  exercises,  and 
we  may  regret  it ;  but  there  it  is,  a  patent  and  incontest- 
able fact."1  So  patent  and  incontestable  is  this  fact, 
indeed,  that  one  might  have  supposed  the  world  would 
have  learned  to  submit  quietly  to  it,  if  we  did  not  know 
that  an  eternal  enmity  between  the  world  and  the  Church 
has  been  predicted  by  the  Eternal  Truth. 


1  Standard,  Oct.  1,  1872. 


txviii 


PREFACE 


If  we  take  the  word  "  politics  "  in  the  largest  sense,  wa 
shall  see  at  once  that  we  cannot  separate  politics  from 
religion.  Politics  are  part  of  the  ethics  of  government; 
to  govern  implies  not  merely  to  make  war  or  peace,  but  to 
rule  and  regulate  all  the  internal  constitution  of  a  king- 
dom. How  can  such  ruling  be  separated  from  religion? 
Statesmen  must  either  govern  the  state  under  some  kind 
of  submission  to  a  Supreme  Power,  or  they  must  govern 
it  as  infidels.  Human  beings,  considered  in  the  aggregate, 
are  the  subject-matter  of  political  science;  when  amongst, 
say,  four  millions  of  human  beings,  there  are  two  or 
three  different  forms  of  religious  belief,  and  when  this 
religious  belief  is  of  a  practical  character,  the  politician 
cannot  govern  without  special  reference  to  it. 

If  this  subject  were  more  carefully  considered,  more  than 
half  the  matter  which  has  appeared  in  print  on  the  subject 
of  the  interference  of  the  Catholic  clergy  in  politics,  would 
be  treated  as  simply  useless.  If  Englishmen  do  not  know, 
they  ought  to  know,  that  Catholics  cannot  separate  politics 
from  religion.  There  is  a  moral  aspect  in  every  political 
question  the  Catholic  receives  his  moral  teaching  from 
his  Church;  it  is  then  absurd  to  ask  him  to  consider  such 
questions  apart  from  such  teaching  ;  it  is  childish  to 
bandy  such  names  as  "priest-ridden"  and  "  Ultra- 
montane." 

Protestants  choose  to  call  the  Irish  peasant  priest-ridden, 
simply  because  they  cannot  understand  the  principle  upon 


PREFACE 


xxix 


which  the  Irish  peasant  acts.  Because  he  is  consistent, 
because,  believing  a  certain  faith,  he  acts  on  his  belief,  lie 
is  made  an  object  of  scorn,  or  at  best,  is  looked  upon  as  an 
incomprehensible  being.  So  it  is  with  those  of  the  higher 
classes  who  are  spoken  of  as  being  Ultramontane:  they 
certainly  do  believe  in  the  authority  of  the  successor  of  Peter 
"  over  the  mountains;*'  it,  is  a  fact,  there  is  no  use  in 
quarrelling  with  it  ;  nor  is  there  any  wisdom  in  alleging 
any  reason  for  it  except  the  true  one. 

It  is  useless  to  devote  pages  of  a  serial  to  combative 
articles  on  the  Irish  Roman  Catholic  laity,  to  talk  of  their 
being  under  the  rule  of  an  "  arrogant  and  domineeriig 
priesthood"  in  one  breath,  and,  in  the  next,  to  say  that 
they  "  detest  and  dread"  the  priest,  because  he  "  flatters 
the  prejudice  of  the  peasantry."2  All  such  writing  is 
simply  t lie  result,  of  ignorance. 

There  are  indeed,  unhappily,  some  few  Irish  Catholics 
who  have  lo3t  the  freshness  of  their  faith,  who  are  half 
ashamed  of  the  religion  which  they  are  still  afraid  to 
forsake.  Perhaps  fifty  such  gentlemen  might  be  found  in 
all  Ireland — we  doubt  if  there  are  ten — but  they  generally 
come  prominently  forward;  they  are  complimented  hugely 
on  their  liberality  and  their  spirit  by  their  Protestant 
friends;  and  they  are  gratified  by  the  compliment.  They 
may  proclaim  their  own  opinions,  but  they  have  no  right 


1  "The  Irish  Roman  Catholic  Laity."—  Fraser's  Magazine  for  October. 


XXX 


PREFACE. 


to  speak  for  others,  or  to  give  a  false  impression  of  their 

religion. 

The  subject  of  Education  is  not  unlilrely  to  be  a  minis- 
terial crisis  in  the  next  session.  If  the  Catholic  nobility 
and  gentry,  the  barristers  and  magistrates,  of  Ireland, 
were  as  anxious  to  have  their  children  educated  by  Pro- 
testants as  some  persons  suppose,  they  have  every  facility 
for  obtaining  such  education  for  them.  It  is,  therefore, 
idle  to  taunt  them  with  moral  cowardice  because  they 
follow  their  ecclesiastical  superiors  in  obedience  to  their 
conscience  ;  rather  should  the  taunt  be  levelled  against 
those  who,  while  still  claiming  the  name  of  Catholic,  have 
ceased  to  be  Catholics  in  unity  or  in  practice.  It  is 
worse  than  an  insult  to  assert  that  the  Catholic  gentlemen 
of  Ireland  admire  the  "manly  courage"  and  "fervid  elo- 
quence "  of  Mr  Justice  Keogh  at  Gal  way,  and  that  they 
agree  with  him  in  denouncing  "  the  tyranny  of  the  bishops, 
the  violence,  dishonesty,  and  equivocation  of  the  priests." 
We  have  yet  to  learn  that  it  is  "manly"  to  attack  those 
who  could  not  defend  themselves,  or  that  rant  is  "  fervid 
eloquence."  It  might  be  supposed  that  thoee  who  write 
for  the  public  would  take  at  least  some  little  pains  to 
make  themselves  acquainted  with  public  opinion,  would  be 
at  some  pains  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the 
previous  history  of  those  whom  they  commend,  and  with 
the  sentiments  of  those  whose  true  opinions  they  profess 
to  know  by  some  mysterious  species  of  intuition. 


PREFACE. 


XXXI 


With  regard  to  Mr  Justice  Keogh,  he  had  undoubtedly  a 
right  to  change  his  mind  both  on  political  and  religious 
questions,  but  his  English  admirers  have  no  ground  for 
honouring  him  as  a  consistent  defamer  of  the  priesthood 
or  eulogist  of  a  certain  class  of  landlords.  The  truth  is, 
that  the  great  majority  of  English  writers  are  entirely 
ignorant  of  what  is  well  known  to  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  Ireland;  or  possibly,  in  some  cases,  they  find  it 
convenient  to  ignore  what  it  does  not  suit  their  purpose  to 
remember.  We  would  ask  the  thousands  of  honest-hearted 
Englishmen  who  have  taken  the  judicial  harangue  of  Mr 
Justice  Keogh  for  gospel  to  read  a  history  of  his  career, 
published  and  circulated  from  one  end  of  Ireland  to  the 
other. 

In  the  year  1851  this  gentleman  published  a  pamphkt, 
in  which  he  revised  a  speech  of  his  own,  made  at  the 
Athlone  Banquet,  and  from  this  speech,  as  published  by 
himself,  we  give  the  following  extract : — 

"  I  see  here  the  venerated  prelates  of  my  Church — first  among 
them,  1  the  observed  of  all  observers,'  the  illustrious  Archbishop  of 
Tuam,  who,  like  that  lofty  tower  which  rises  upon  the  banks  of  the 
yellow  Tiber,  the  pride  and  protection  of  the  city,  is  at  once  tlie 
glory  and  the  guardian,  the  decus  et  tutamen  of  the  Catholic  religion, 
joining  with  the  tried  and  faithful  representatives  of  the  people, 
who,  after  each  in  his  own  locality  receiving  the  approbation  of  hia 
constituents,  have  done  me  the  great  honour  of  attending  this 
banquet,  to  testify  that  I  too  was  one,  even  though  the  humblest 
of  that  number,  who,  in  a  time  of  great  trial,  were  found  true  Uj 
their  country,  their  honour,  and  their  God." 


xxxii 


VREF A  CE. 


In  the  same  speech  lie  denounced  the  landlords  of  Ireland 
as  a  "  heartless  aristocracy,"  as  "  the  most  heartless,  the 
most  thriftless,  the  most  indefensible  landocracy  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,"  and  as  men  who  have  made  Ireland  "a 
Howling  wilderness." 

It  is  conveniently  forgotten,  too,  that  Mr  Justice  Keogh 
n  i  rule  a  famous  declaration — in  which  he  invoked  the  name  of 
God  in  the  most  solemn  manner  again  and  again — to  con- 
vince the  Irish  people  of  his  sincerity  to  the  national  cause, 
a  sincerity  of  which  some  keen-sighted  gentlemen  had  their 
doubts.  It  is  forgotten  also,  that  on  the  2d  of  April  1853, 
he  spoke  of  the  Catholic  bishops  and  clergy  as  his  "  revered 
friends." 

But  there  is  a  yet  more  startling  phase  in  the  career 
of  this  gentleman  whom  so  manv  English  writers  are  de- 
lighted  to  honour.  If  they  praise  his  Gal  way  utterances 
as  " manly"  and  "fervid,"  they  must  surely  give  the  same 
praise  to  his  speech  at  Athlone,  where,  according  to  the 
statement  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant  of  the  day,  he  distinctly 
recommended  assassination.  The  subject  was  brought 
before  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  10th  of  June  1853,  by 
Lord  Westmeath.   He  said: — 

"Mr  Keogh,  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  that  cand'date  (Cap- 
tain Magan),  spoke  to  the  audience,  the  mob,  in  broad  day,  in  the 
streets,  the  words  which  he  should  presently  read  for  their  lordshipa 
— words  which  had  been  heard  by  three  magistrates  of  the  county, 
and  which  they  were  ready  to  corroborate  on  oath.  At  a  place 
called  Moate,  from  Magan's  committee-room,  Mr  Keogh  said  :— • 


PREFACE. 


xxxiii 


*  Boys,  the  days  are  now  long  and  the  nights  are  short.  In  autumn 
the  days  will  he  getting  shorter  and  the  nights  longer.  In  winter  (or 
November)  the  niykU  will  be  very  long,  and  then  let  every  one  remem- 
ber who  voted  for  Sir  H,  Levinge.'  It  was  rumoured  that  vacancies 
were  about  to  occur  on  the  Irish  Bench,  and  that  MrKeogh  was  not 
unlikely  to  succeed  to  one.  Though  it  might  he  alleged  that  Mr 
Keogh  was  not  Solicitor-General  when  he  made  the  speech  to  which 
he  (the  Marquis  of  Westmeath)  referred,  he  wished  to  know  whether 
any  person  who  would  attempt  to  advance  any  purpose,  whether 
-political  or  social,  by  such  means,  was  Jit  to  be  pi  act  d  on  t/ie  /risk 
Bench  1  * 

Lord  Derby  said  : — 

"  The  noble  Earl  (Aberdeen)  says  he  knows  nothing  about  that 
election  speech,  and,  of  course,  I  am  bound  to  believe  him  ;  but  it 
appears  to  me  to  show  a  great  ignorance — I  do  not  mean  the  word 
offensively — but,  at  any  rate,  a  great  absence  of  knowledge  in  the 
noble  Earl  not  to  hare  known  that,  at  the  time  when  MrKeogh  was 
made  Solicitor-General,  he  was  accused  of  having  made  that  speech. 
The  county  of  Westmeath  is  one  in  which  Mr  Keogh  has  not  a  foot 
of  land.  He  was  acting  there  as  a  leader  or  partisan  of  what  is 
called  the  Liberal  interest  in  Ireland — liberal  enough  in  some 
respects,  but  illiberal  in  others — and  in  that  capacity,  having  been  a 
member  of  the  former  parliament  and  a  candidate  for  a  seat  in  the 
next,  and  intending  to  make  his  support  valuable  to  the  Govern- 
ment, he  is  reported  to  have  warned  the  people  that  the  nights  were 
then  short  mid  the  days  long,  that  the  time  teas  coining  when  the  nights 
would  be  long  and  the  days  short,  and  that  that  would  be  the  time  at  which 
any  person  who  might  vole  for  Sir  11.  Levinge  for  Westmeatli  ought, 
to  look  out  for  what  might  follow.  And,  if  I  am  not  much  mistaken, 
there  was  a  recommendation  that  the  people  of  that  county  should 
collect  together  and  go  into  the  town  of  Athlone,  for  which  he  was 
himself  a  candidate,  armed  with  shillelaghs,  and  take  care  to  use 
them  when  they  got  there.  This  may  have  been  totally  incorrect ; 
but  if  this,  or  anything  like  it,  was  said  by  Mr  Keogh  so  openly  and 


PREFACE. 


publicly  tliat  it  was  a  matter  of  general  notoriety,  I  say  it  di* 

qualified  that  honourable  and  learned  gentleman  from  being  put  into 
any  situation  in  any  government  in  which,  in  the  slightest  degree,  he 
might  be  called  on  to  support,  or  nominally  to  support,  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  law" 

Mr  Keogh  denied  the  charge,  but  the  Protestant  rector 
of  Moate,  the  Rev.  Mr  Hopkins,  wrote  to  Lord  Westmeath 
to  maintain  that  he  had  used  the  words,  and  his  testimony 
was  supported  by  the  solemn  assurance  of  several  magis- 
trates, and  of  two  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  How 
Mr  Justice  Keogh  would  have  dealt  with  such  testimony — 
had  it  been  offered  in  the  Gal  way  trial,  we  all  know;  with 
what  withering  scorn,  with  what  scathing  denunciation, 
with  what  "  fervid  eloquence,"  would  he  not  have  borne 
down  upon  the  unhappy  priest  who  might  have  allowed 
such  words  to  escape  his  lips?  His  fine  sense  of  justice 
would  have  been  horrified,  his  power  of  denunciation  would 
have  been  exhausted;  with  that  exceptional  refinement  and 
delicacy  which  characterises  his  judicial  utterances,  he 
would  have  imitated  the  tone  and  the  manner  of  clerk  or 
laic  who  had  dared  to  commit  such  an  outrage  on  the 
honoured  aristocracy  of  the  land.  He  would  have  forgotten 
in  his  just  indignation  to  criticise  the  grammar  of  his 
victim,  to  give  historical  lectures,  or  to  comment  on  hia 
rhetoric.  His  grand  thirst  for  justice  would  have  con- 
trolled all  the  petty  pride  which  might  tempt  him  to  the  little 
vanity  of  a  display  of  superior  education  and  knowledge ; 
the  victim  would  have  been  held  up  to  the  scorn  of  the 


PRE  FA  CE. 


XXXV 


Uo'tcd  Kingdom,  would  have  been  indicted  without  a 
da\'s  delay  for  seditious  utterances. 

Mr  Keogh'a  apology  for  his  observations  at  Moate  were 
conveyed  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle, 
in  which  he  said — 

"  It  did  not  occupy  five  minutes,  find  I  was  not  reported  so  as  to 
enable  me  to  refer  to  it.  I  have  no  recollection  whatever  of  using 
any  language  even  similar  to  that  attributed  tome;  but  my  memory 
may  fail  me  as  to  the  precise  words  used  in  the  heat  and  excitement 
of  election  occurrences,  and  I  trust,  therefore,  rather  to  the  evidence 
of  friends  who  were  present,  and  the  inherent  improbability  of  my 
expressing  sentiments  which  I  never  entertained  rather  than  to  my 
own  recollection." 

The  Dublin  Evening  Mail,  *Jd  June  1853,  an  Orange  organ, 
observed  that  "  the  seditious  speech  was  no  longer  denied, 
but  it  was  only  a  little  one."  Lord  Eglinton  read  for  the 
House  a  letter  from  Arthur  Brown,  Esq.,  J.P.,  in  which  he 
■aid— 

M  I  wish  (as  the  magistrate  who  took  the  declaration  of  James 
Burke),  to  satisfy  you  that  every  word  in  that  declaration  is  true, 
and  that  at  least  twenty  gentlemen  of  independence  and  station 
(among  them  the  rector  of  Moate,  the  Rev.  Mr  Hopkins),  are  ready 
and  willing  to  support  the  truth  of  that  deposition  by  their  evidence 
or.  oath.  The  gentlemen  in  question  were  present  on  the  occasion, 
heard  the  words  so  delivered,  and  there  can  be  no  more  doubt  of 
their  utterance  than  of  any  other  truth  which  cannot  be  disputed." 

W~e  do  not  desire  to  pursue  the  unwelcome  theme 
further.  Our  one  object  is  gained  if  we  can  induce  those 
English  gentlemen  who  shall  read  this  work  to  ask  them- 


xxxvi 


PREFACE. 


selves  why  Irish  Catholics  of  all  classes,  not  only  in  Ire- 
land, but  throughout  the  world,  are  justly  indignant  at  the 
Gal  way  judgment,  and,  what  is,  if  possible,  of  far  greater 
importance,  why  Ireland  is  not  prosperous  with  English  rule. 
It  is  frequently  believed  that  "  things  have  changed  since 
O'ConnelPs  time,"  that  "the  Irish  are  a  discontented  race 
whom  nothing  can  satisfy,"  that  "  their  grievances  are 
sentimental."  Certainly  during  O'Connell's  long  and 
noble  career  he  obtained  much  justice  for  Ireland,  certainly 
much  has  been  done  lately;  but  while  much  yet  remains  to 
be  done,  it  is  neither  right  for  English  honour,  nor  safe  for 
English  prosperity,  to  refuse  all  that  Ireland  needs  in  order 
to  be  prosperous  and  content. 

The  Irish  peasantry  are  not  in  a  prosperous  condition; 
and  while  the  Irish  hear  their  clergy  ridiculed,  and  their 
conduct  basely  maligned  and  misrepresented,  with  the  full 
approbation  of  the  great  majority  of  English  writers,  there 
can  scarcely  be  peace  between  the  two  countries. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Galway,  the 
following  solemn  protest  was  put  on  record  : — 

"  We  deem  it  our  duty  to  record  our  solemn  protest,  not  0!ily 
against  the  judgment  itself,  but,  for  the  information  of  the  public 
and  the  Imperial  Parliament,  who  had  no  opportunity  of  witnessing 
the  strange  scene,  against  the  gross  impropriety  of  manner  attend- 
ing its  delivery,  which  we  k?ve  no  hesitation  in  describing  as  a 
desecration  of  the  sanctuary  of  justice,  shocking  to  the  feelings  ol 
every  impartial  listener.  We  leave  the  public  to  judge  of  this, 
whom,  from  personal  observation,  we  assure,  that  the  delivery  of 


PREFACE. 


xxxv  ii 


the  judgment,  which  occupied  nearly  eight  hours,  was  but  a  con- 
tinued paroxysm  of  rage,  seemingly  ungovernable — one  uninter- 
rupted scene  of  roaring,  screaming,  foaming,  violent  striking  of  the 
desk  with  clenched  fist,  occasional  walking  backward  and  forward, 
with  wig  flung  aside,  mimicry  of  adverse  witnesses,  fulsome  adula- 
tion of  landlords  and  gentry,  of  which  no  printed  report  could  give 
any  idea  whatever." 

So  long  as  there  shall  be  any  distinction  between  the 
administration  of  justice  in  England  and  in  Ireland,  so 
long  will  the  two  countries  remain  disunited.  So  long  as 
English  public  opinion  of  Ireland  is  governed  by  prejudice, 
there  can  be  little  confidence.  Let  Englishmen  show  them- 
selves ready  not  only  to  do  justice,  but  to  speak  justice. 

We  cannot  conclude  this  preface  without  acknowledging 
our  obligations  to  those  gentlemen  who  have  placed  valu- 
able documents,  private  papers,  and  letters  at  our  disposal 
for  the  present  work.  To  his  Grace  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  we  are  especially  indebted  for  the  use  of  his  long 
private  correspondence  with  the  Liberator,  and  for  the 
copies  of  the  few  of  his  own  letters  to  O'Connell  which 
he  has  preserved.  His  Grace  had  intended  to  publish 
this  correspondence  himself ;  but,  with  his  usual  disin- 
terested generosity,  he  transferred  it  to  the  present  writer 
on  hearing  that  she  was  about  to  publish  this  work.  We 
are  indebted  also  to  the  Most  Rev.  Dr  Purcell,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cincinnati,  for  some  documents  on  the  sub- 
ject of  shivery,  which,  with  some  other  papers,  are  reserved 
for  another  work.     We  owe  him  thanks,  too,  for  his  words 


xxxviii 


PREFACE. 


of  encouragement  and  for  help,  which  has  not  limited 

itself  to  words.3 

We  have  to  thank  P.  J.  Fitzpatrick,  Esq.,  J. P.,  for  the 
use  of  a  valuable  collection  of  old  newspapers,  and  for 
advanced  sheets  of  his  forthcoming  work,  "  The  Life  of  Dr 
Lanigan,"  the  well-known  Irish  ecclesiastical  historian,  and 
the  consistent  and  ardent  opposer  of  the  Yeto. 

To  Maurice  Lenihan,  Esq.,  J. P.,  Limerick,  we  are  obliged 
for  a  very  valuable  collection  of  private  papers,  of  which 
we  hope  to  make  more  use  in  another  work,  and  for  the 
original  of  tue  King  of  Bavaria's  letter  to  O'Connell.  To 
Isaac  Butt,  Esq.,  M.P.,  we  are  indebted  for  the  appendix 
to  Chapter  XV.,  and  for  his  interest  in  our  work.  To  Sir 
John  Gray,  M.P.,  we  are  obliged  for  the  narratives  of  his 


3  A  sample  of  the  contradictory  charges  made  against  Catholics  occurred 
lately  in  America.  The  Catholic  clergy  had  been  again  and  again 
taunted  with  indifference  to  literature  ;  nuns  had  been  represented  again 
and  again  as  either  half  imbecile,  or  wasting  their  lives  in  useless  and 
frivolous  employments,  unless  they  happen  to  make  their  work  public  as 
Sisters  of  Mercy.  Yet  there  are  few  Orders  in  the  Church  in  which  the 
religious  are  not  engaged  actively  and  unceasingly  in  the  great  and 
noble  work  of  education  ;  and  even  the  most  highly  educated  of  these 
religious  must  continue  to  study  both  history  and  science,  in  order  to 
impart  the  knowledge  of  both,  as  well  as  the  lighter  accomplishments 
which  her  pupils  require,  to  fit  them  for  their  places  in  society.  The 
charge  of  intellectual  inactivity  is  about  the  most  groundless  which 
ignorance  has  made,  and  which  prejudice  persists  in  keeping  up. 

Every  nun  who  teaches  the  higher  classes  must  teach  history,  and  must 
write  notes  for  her  classes  on  history,  if  she  wishes  to  teach  it  thoroughly. 
Nor  can  she  teach  logic  without  explaining  politics  ;  and  though  the 
angry  discussions  of  the  politics  of  the  day  cannot  be  heard  in  the 


PREFA CK 


xxxil 


prison  life,  and  to  Lady  Gray  for  assisting  in  procuring 
them.  To  P.  J.  0' Carroll,  Esq.,  we  are  indebted  for  news- 
papers relating  to  O'Connell's  trial;  and  we  are  especially 
indebted  to  J.  Leyne,  Esq.,  of  the  Registration  Office, 
Dnblin,  for  the  O'Connell  pedigree  at  the  end  of  the  work, 
and  for  the  notes  appended  thereto. 

Our  special  thanks  are  also  due  to  Mitchell  Henry,  Esq., 
M.P.,  for  a  copy  of  his  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons 
on  the  25th  of  July  1872.  Each  part  of  the  judicial 
harangue  is  carefully  examined  therein,  and  triumphantly 
refuttd.  This  speech  is  all  the  more  remarkable,  as  it 
comes  to  us  from  a  Protestant  gentleman.  Those  who 
6trive  to  persuade  themselves  and  others  that  Catholic 


conventual  class-room,  the  whole  subject  of  politics,  in  their  highest 
and  truest  MOM,  must  be  explained. 

Even  at  the  risk  of  making  this  note  very  much  longer  than  io  was 
intended  to  be  when  commenced,  we  would  call  attention  to  the  discussion 
going  on  at  present  in  the  English  school  boards,  where  it  is  found  that 
hi>torv  cannot  be  taught  apart  from  religion.  Not  long  since  Mr  Arnold 
■aid  lie  would  not  send  Protestant  children  to  a  Catholic  school.  The 
ichool  board  solicitor  replied  that  the  religious  instruction  ceased  at  half- 
past  nine  in  the  morning  ;  but  Mr  Arnold  answered  that  the  elements 
of  religious  education  were  sometimes  taught  in  other  forms.  The  reports 
of  the  English  Poor  School  Committee  speak  expressly  on  the  matter  ; 
and  Canon  Oakley,  in  his  discussions  on  this  subject  in  the  Catholic 
papers,  states  that  a  "  distinguished  Protestant  Government  inspector  " 
eays  that  it  may  be  necessary  hereafter  to  proscribe  history  during  the 
period  of  secular  instruction.  A  little  common  sense,  indeed,  would 
show  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  teach  any  subject  except  pure  mathe- 
matics, without  giving  at  least  a  bias  to  the  pupil's  mind  on  religioui 
quest  iui\s. 


PRE FA CK 


gentlemen  secretly  admire  the  denouncer  of  their  religion, 
niid  the  reviler  of  their  clergy,  would  do  well  to  recollect 
that  (here  are  many  Protestant  gentlemen  who  have  had 
the  courage  and  justice  to  express  their  disgust  for  such  a 
degradation  of  the  hench  in  Ireland.  Mr  Henry,  being  a 
large  landed  proprietor,  was  selected  for  special  compli- 
ments, an  honour  which  he  scorned  as  it  deserved.  But  Mr 
Henry's  relatives,  though  they  had  no  connection  whatever 
with  Galway,  or  the  Galway  judgment,  were  selected  for 
eminent;  and  as  his  brother  happened  to  be  a  priest 
and  a  convert,  the  judge,  to  enhance  his  rhetoric,  and  we 
mus+  suppose  to  pander  to  the  class  in  England  to  whom 
he  knew  the  judgment  would  be  acceptable,  gave  him  the 
title  of  Jesuit. 

As  we  fear  that  many,  to  whom  it  would  be  of  most  ser- 
vice, may  not  see  Mr  Henry's  able  pamphlet,  we  give  the 
following  extracts,  as  an  evidence  of  Protestant  opinion  on 
the  subject,  from  an  able  and  educated  man : — 

"  Yes,  Mr  Speaker,  I  charge  Judge  Keogh  with  deliberately  out 
raging  the  religious  feelings  of  a  religious  people  ;  and  there  is  no 
one  passage  in  his  harangue  which  has  given  so  much  offence,  and 
occasioned  so  much  consternation,  as  his  sneers  at  the  efficacy  of 
prayer. 

"  Go  among  the  peasantry  cf  Ireland,  and  your  greeting,  from  the 
bottom  of  their  hearts,  is  '  God  save  you  visit  them  in  their  sick- 
ness and  sorrow,  when  their  crops  have  failed  and  hard  hunger 
knocks  at  their  door,  and  their  commentary  is,  '  God  is  good.'  Do 
tliein  a  service,  and  the  highest  reward  they  can  promise  you  — not 
in  meaningless  words,  but  out  of  the  sincerity  of  their  religioua 


PREFACE. 


xli 


nature — as  I  have  heard  a  thousand  times,  is,  'We  will  pray  for 
you;'  for  this  people  of  the  West  pray  not  with  their  lips  only — 
they  believe  in  prayer;  they  believe  that  they  have  a  Friend  in 
Heaven,  who  will  at  last  redress  their  wrongs  and  vindicate  Himself 
to  them.  And  yet,  sir,  before  such  a  people,  Judge  Keogh,  from  the 
judgment-seat,  and  clothed  in  the  official  ermine,  retails  a  stale  and 
ribald  jest,  and  fathers  it  withal  on  a  priest,  to  show  that  it  is  no 
use  their  praying  for  rain  unless  the  wind  changes. 

"  It  is  almost  incredible.  When  he  calls  a  Gal  way  priest  'this 
insane  disgrace  to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,'  I  cannot  help  ask- 
ing what  religion  he  owns  himself,  and  whether  he  disgraces  it  or 
not,  and  whether  he  is  sane?" 

We  have  mentioned  elsewhere  the  obligations  to  the 
Rev.  John  O'Hanlon,  C.C.,  for  the  record  of  O'ConnelTs 
last  days,  which  will  be  found  at  page  75G,  and  to  the 
Rev.  M.  Close  for  a  verbatim  copy  ">f  this  interesting 
document.  To  Mr  Close  I  am  indebted  for  much  help  in 
my  literary  labours,  given  with  so  prompt  courtesy,  which 
enhances  their  value. 

We  may  also  observe,  for  the  national  credit,  that  we 
have  found  the  proprietors  of  Webb's  Library,  in  Dublin, 
most  obliging  in  supplying  works  of  reference.  We  can 
confidently  recommend  this  library  to  students.  It  was 
first  brought  to  our  notice  by  several  Catholic  clergymen. 
The  proprietors  are,  we  believe,  Protestants — another  evi- 
dence, were  it  needed,  that  the  Catholic  clergy  are  readers 
of  a  high  class  of  literature,  and  that  party  prejudice  is 
confined  now,  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  O'Connell,  to  a  class 
whom  nothing  will  satisfy  except  Orange  ascendancy,  and 


zffi 


PREFACE. 


liberty  to  tyrannise  over  all  who  differ  from  them  la 
politics  or  religion. 


CONTENT  {3. 


CHAPTER  I 
family — birth — boyhood.  1 7  74-1 790. 
IMitical  Situation  at  the  time  of  O'Connell's  Birth— His  Pedi- 
gree— Paul  Jones — Smuggling  in  Kerry — English  Op- 
pression—O'Conneli's  Affection  for  his  Mother,  and  Pride 
of  Family — Darrynane  Abbey — The  Clan  O'Connell — 
O'Connell's  Early  Aptitude  for  Letters — His  First  School- 
master— The  Crelaghs — Father  O'Grady — At  School  in 
Cork — Education  in  France — Early  Hatred  of  England — 
Reign  of  Terror — Louis  XVIII.  and  the  Old  Irish  Brigade 
— General  Daniel  Count  O'Connell, 

CHAPTER  a 

EARLY  DAYS  AND  FIRST  IJJPRKSSIOXS.  1790-1800. 

The  French  Revolution  and  the  Irish  Rebellion  Compared — 
Louis  XIV.  and  George  III. — English  Opinions  on  Irish 
Policy — Louis  XVI — The  Two  Shearca — St  Omers — 
O'Connell  and  the  Priesthood — His  Opinions  of  the  French 
Revolution — Interview  with  Robert  Owen — At  Lincoln's 
Inn — Origin  of  Constitutionalism — Catholic  Church  Con- 
servative—  The  English  and  Irish  Catholics  Contrasted— 
Early  Toryism  —  Hardy's  Trial  —  Home  Tooke  —  '1  he 
Georges  and  the  Stuarts — Rise  of  Democracy — American 
War — Benjamin  Franklin — The  Irish  in  America,  .  61-100 

CHAPTER  UL 

ENTRY  ON  PUBLIC  LIFE — POLITICAL  SITUATION.  1775-1797, 

Political  Troubles  in  England — Attack  on  the  King — Fondness 
for  Field  Sports — Fever — First  Visit  to  Dublin — English 
Policy  with  Ireland — Forced  Attempt  at  Legislative  Jus- 


3-58 


CONTENTS. 


tice— Causes  and  Character  of  the   Irish   Rebellion—  v±** 
G rattan — Lord  Charlemont— Ireland  in  Arms — Alarm  m 
England— Wants  of  Ireland— Mr  Fox— Repeal  of  Act  VI. 
Geo.  I. — Causes  of  the  Ruin  of  Irish  Independence — Eng- 
lish Bribery — G rattan's  Letter,       .  •  •         .  103-156 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CAUSES  OF  THE  IRISH  REBELLION.  1790-1800. 

The  Northern  Whig  Club— The  United  Irishmen  Club— Catho- 
lic Address  to  the  King — Political  Commotions — Treachery 
of  Pitt — Lord  Fitzwilliam,  the  Catholic  Question,  and  the 
Bcrcsfords— Maynooth  Established — The  Orange  Society- 
Catholic  Clergy — Overzeal  of  O'Connell — Arrests— List  of 
Suspected  Persons — Lord  Cornwallis'  Administration — 
The  Cromwell  Policy — State  of  the  Peasantry — Testimony 
of  Mary  Leadbetter,  .  159-194 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  BAR  AND  POLITICS.  1798-1801. 

First  Circuit— At  the  Bar — Jerry  Keller — Bar  Stories— Promise 
of  Success — Clear  Ideas  of  Fox — The  Irish  Parliament — - 
The  Union— Policy  of  Pitt  —  Bribery — The  Priests- 
Concussion  in  Voting — Letter  of  Mr  Luke  Fox — The  Bar 
ami  the  Union. — "  The  Anti-Union  " — First  Speech — Anti- 
Union  Resolutions — Personal  Appearance — Grattan  and 
Pitt— Personal  danger,       .  197-254 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PUBLIC  SPIRIT  AND  POPULARITY.  1S02-1810. 

On  Circuit — In  Court — Bar  Anecdotes — Marriage — On  Guard 
— Fresh  Risings  and  Revenges — Catholic  Church — Catho- 
lic Priests  and  Protestant  Clergy — Maynooth — The  Veto 
• — Pole — Wellesley — Castlereagh — Plain  Speaking — Love 
of  Justice — Resolution  to  Petition — Effects  of  the  Union 
— Demand  for  its  Repeal— Speech— Petition— The  Hier- 
archy— The  Protestant  Bishop  of  Meath—  The  Edinburgh 
Review— Cobbett— Lift  into  Popularity,  .  .  257-313 


C0X7EMS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PROFESSIONAL  AND  POLITICAL  SUCCESSES.  1808-1812. 

Orange  Outrages -Religious  Persecution — Intolerance  in  the 
Army — Adventures  on  Circuit — Another  Affair  of  Honour 
— Professional  Successes  —  Speech  at  Limerick — Happy 
Allusions— Address  from  Dingle  and  Reply — Catholics 
Entertaining  Protestants  at  the  Festive  Board  —  The 
Government  aim  the  Catholic  Association — Mr  Wellesley 
Pole — Addressing  the  Prince  of  Wales — Speeches  on  the 
Address  and  Conduct  of  Pole — Mr  Perceval  — Political 
Dissension  among  Catholics — Right  of  Assembly — Arrest 
of  Lord  Fingal — Shelley— English  Injustice — Father  Dan 
— At  Limerick  and  Cork,         ....  317-353 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

EXPOSURES  OF  PUBLIC  MEASURES  AND  PUBLIC  MEN".  1812-1S13. 

English  Administration  of  Irish  Affairs  — Party  Rule — No- 
Popery  Cry— Assassination  of  Mr  Perceval— The  Prince  of 
"Wales — The  Witchery  Resolutions — Speech — The  Orange 
Faction  —  The  Landlords  and  the  Tenantry — Ellective 
Speech — Denunciation  of  Orangeism — A  National  Deht — 
Style  of  Speech — At  his  Zenith — As  a  Raconteur— Anec- 
dotes of  Jerry  Keller  and  Lord  Clare — Parson  Hawkes- 
worth — Administration  of  Justice — The  Dublin  Evening 
Po>t—  At  Home— Letter  to  Landor — Trial  of  John  Magee 
— The  Prosecution  and  Prosecutor — The  Reply,         .  357-419 

CHAPTER  IX. 

COURAGE  AND  PATRIOTISM.      IS  13-1819. 

The  English  Catholics— The  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  Dr  Milner 
— Castle  Browne  and  the  Jesuits — Peel  and  Dr  Kenny — 
Public  Honours  —  Duelling  and  Duellists — The  Irish 
Catholic  Aristocracy — D'Esterre,  his  Challenge  and  Fatal 
Duel — Agrarian  Outrages — Rev.  John  Hamilton,  his  Plots 
and  Tools — Affair  of  Honour  with  Peel — Peel's  Gift  to 
Ireland,  .......       423-  450 


xlvi 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X. 

LOYALTY  TO  GOD  AND  THE  KING.  1820-1822. 

Panegyric  on  Grattan  — Outrage  at  Kilmainham — Harcourt  *»« 
Lees— "  Pastoral  Letter"  for  1821— First  Appearance  of 
Sliiel— Mr  Plunket— Analysis  of  Mr  Plunket's  Bills- 
Spiritual  Functions  and  Freedom  of  the  Clergy — Pro- 
testant Bigotry— George  IV.  and  Queen  Caroline— Royal 
Visit  to  Ireland — Loyal  Reception  at  Dublin — The  Irish 
People — Presentation  of  O'Connell  at  Court — Irony  of 
Lord  Byron — Wellesley  and  his  Irish  Policy — Orange 
Orgies— The  Beefsteak  Club  interfered  with,  and  its 
Revenge — Wellesley  and  the  Orangemen— A  Catholic 
Triumph,         ......  453-482 

CHAPTER  XI. 

CATHOLIC  ASSOCIATION — ITS  FORMATION  AND  DEFENCE. 

1822-1827. 

Flood  and  Connar — Cross-examination  of  Flood — Plunket  and 
Hart— Formation  of  Catholic  Association — Priests  and 
People  brought  into  Action — First  Meeting — The  Inexor- 
able Purcell — The  Penny-a-month  Scheme  for  Liberating 
Ireland  —  Grand  Aggregate  Meeting  —  The  Conversion 
Mania — The  Pope  and  Maguire  Controversy — Abortive 
Prosecution  of  O'Connell— The  Duke  of  York's  "  So-heip- 
me-God"  Speech — The  King's  Speech  and  the  Association 
— Lords  Liverpool  and  Brougham — O'Connell  in  London 
— Lords  Palmerston  and  Eldon — The  Ladies — O'Conn ell's 
Popularity — Aims  of  the  Association — Another  Challenge 
— Shiel — Canning,  ......  485-5 14 

CHAPTER  XII. 

O'CONNELL  AND  THE  CATHOLIC  HIERARCHY.  1827-1835. 

Commencement  of  Correspondence  with  Dr  MacHale— Priestly 
Co-operation— A  New  Era— Sketch  of  Dr  MacHale's  Life 
—Sketch  of  Dr  Doyle's  Life— His  "  Vindication  of  Catho- 


CONTENTS. 


xlvil 


lies" — Dr  Doyle  and  the  Lords' Committee — Honest  Jack  paoh 

Lawless — Henry  G  rattan — Mr  0' Gorman  Mahon — Scene 

in  the  " House"— Steele— Mr  Barrett— Mr  Ray,  .  .  517-534 

CHAPTER  Xm 

KING  DAN.  1825-1829. 

Eng  and's  Answer  to  Ireland's  Cry  for  Justice— Decline  since 
the  Days  of  Henry  VIII. — Ireland  a  Necessity  for  Eng- 
land— A  Catholic  Triumph — Address  to  the  Catholics  of 
Clare — Excitement  and  Agitation — Consternation  in  Eng- 
land—Monster Meeting  at  Ennis— Scene  at  the  Hustings, 
the  Sheriff' and  O'Gornian  Malum— The  Voting  Day — Mr 
Vandaleur  and  his  Tenants — Return  of  O'Connell — Speech 
of  Shiel — The  Chairing — Excitement  in  England — The 
Bishops  and  Priests — Official  Irritation— King  Dan — The 
Leicester  Declaration— Letter  of  Wellington — The  Eman- 
cipation Bill  Passed — O'Connell's  Right  to  a  Seat  Disputed 
— At  the  Bar  of  the  House — Re-Election — Smith  O'Brien 
— Enthusiasm,        ......  537-578 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

PARLIAMENTARY  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE.  1829-1839. 

Die  Watexfold  Election — Montalembert  and  O'Connell — Let- 
ters tc  the  People  of  Ireland— Lord  Leveson  Gower — Pal- 
mention  and  Wellington — History  and  Politics — The 
Emancipation  Act  not  Followed  by  the  Millennium — 
Exasperation  of  the  Orangemen  and  Distress  among  the 
Peasantry— Temporary  Arrest  of  O'Connell — Letter  to  Dr 
Macllale — Anti-Tithe  Riots— In  Parliament — Lord  Al- 
thorpe  and  Shiel  —  O'Connell's  Motion  for  Repeal  — 
Cathedials — Letter — Melbourne  and  O'Connell — Disraeli 
and  the  O'Connells — Letter — Lyndhurst's  Attack  on  the 
Irish — Banquets — Speech  of  Dr  Machale — Letter— O'Con- 
nell undertakes  a  Retreat — Reception  at  the  Abbey — 
Letters  — Entertained  in  London  —  Defies  the  House — 
Letters,       .......  581-606 


Llviii 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AGITATION  FOR  REPEAL.  1839-1843, 

The.  Repeal  Movement  Projected— Correspondence,  explaining 
Ideas  and  Plans,  with  Dr  MacHale— Repeal  Association 
Formed  —Discouraging  Start— Repeal  Meetings  in  the 
Sou tli  and  North— General  Election.  O'Connell  Unseated 
—Elected  Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin— Attacked  by  Shrews- 
bury—The Repeal  Year,  par  excellence — The  Association, 
Terms  of  Membership  and  Card — Peel  and  Repeal — Mon- 
ster Meetings  at  Ennis  and  Mullaghmast  —  European 
Fame— O'Connell  and  the  Society  of  Friends— Letters  to 
Dr  Machale,   669-702 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  CLOSING  SHADOWS  AND  THE  END.  1843-1847. 

Clontarf — Excitement  in  Dublin — Indictment  of  O'Connell — 
Sensation— Forebodings — Address  to  the  people — Con- 
dolences—  Joseph  Sturge — The  Trial — Notices  of  the 
Judges,  the  Traversers,  and  the  Counsel  in  the  Case — 
Charge  of  the  Chief-Justice — The  Verdict — O'Connell  in 
the  House-  Excitement  over  the  Country — The  Sentence 
— Incarceration — First  Day  of  Imprisonment — Respect 
Shown  the  Prisoners — Dinner  Parties  and  Bon-Mots — 
McCarthy's  Poem  —  Gives  and  Refuses  Audiences  — 
Reversal  of  Judgment  and  Liberation — Ovation — Home- 
Shadows — The  Young  Icelanders — Rescript  from  Rome — 
The  Famine — Bids  Farewell  to  Ireland — Hopes  to  Die  at 
Rome— Diary  of  his  Servant — Montalembert's  Condolence 
— Last  Hours — Death  in  Peace—  The  Faithful  round  the 
Bier— Funeral  Obsequies  and  Eloge — "  The  Dead  Tri- 
bune"   .  705-774 

Appendix,  775 


Ixozx, 


79 


Cjjaptcr  Jfirst 


FAMILY— BIRTH— BOYHOOD. 
1774-1790. 

POLITICAL  BTTUATION   AT  THE  TIME   OP  O'CONNELL'S  BTRTH — HIS  PEDIGREE— 

PAUL  JONES — SMUGGLINO  IN  KERRY — ENGLISH  OPPRESSION — O'CONNELL'S 
AFFECTION  FOR  HIS  HOT  HER,  AND  PRIDE  OF  FAMILY — DARRYNANE  ABBEY 
— THE  CLAN  O'CONNELL— O'CONNELL'S  EARLY  APTITUDE  FOR  LETTERS — HIS 
FIRST  SCHOOLMASTER — THE  CRELAGIIS —  FATHER  o'GRADY — AT  SCHOOL  IN 
CORK— EDUCATION  IN  FRANCE — EARLY  HATRED  OF  ENGLAND — REIGN  OF 
TERROR — LOUIS  XVIIL  AND  TOE  OLD  IRISH.  BRIGADE— GENERAL  DANIEL 
COUNT  O'CONNELL, 


HE  events  which  made  t!ie 
close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury renowned,  cannot  be 
thoroughly  understood  with- 
out something  more  than  a 
glance  at  what  was  then  the 
past,  as  well  as  what  is  to  us  also  the  past. 
Europe  and  America,  the  New  World  and  the 
Old,  were  both  convulsed  and  revolutionised. 
One  part,  at  least,  of  the  British  Empire  was 
also  convulsed,  and  it  was  also  revolutionised. 
The  convulsion  was  indeed  caused  by  that  revolt 
against  injustice,  which  must  come  sooner  or 
later  both  to  the  peoples  and  the  individuals 


4 


HISTOIiY  REPEATS  ITSELF, 


who  are  guilty  of  injustice.  This  revolution  was  termed  a 
rebellion,  because  the  cries  of  those  who  initiated  it  were 
stifled  in  blood  and  death. 

History  repeats  itself.  It  may  be  useful  to  remember 
this  at  a  time  when  there  is  a  probability  of  another  re- 
volution, none  the  less  dangerous  to  public  safety,  because 
it  lias  its  inception  in  a  demand  for  personal  liberty, — 
not  indeed  the  personal  liberty  of  individual  freedom  to  do 
justice,  but  the  personal  liberty  to  prevent  the  doing  of 
justice  by  others. 

The  American  revolution  was  settled  by  law ;  the  French 
revolution  was  quelled  by  the  power  of  one  man.  America 
obtained  the  freedom  which  every  state  must  have  if  it  is 
to  bear  its  part  creditably  in  the  political  world.  France 
was  delivered  from  the  despotism  of  many  by  the  power  of 
one;  hence  when  the  personal  influence  of  the  individual 
ceased,  the  multitude  were  left  to  seek  other  guides,  with 
what  result  we  all  know.  It  might  be  king,  or  it  might 
be  kaiser,  who  influenced  the  impetuous  Gaul ;  as  long  as 
the  influence  lasted  all  was  well,  or  appeared  well;  the 
influence  once  withdrawn,  and  the  hero  dethroned,  for 
any  reason,  or  for  none,  the  country  is  again  a  prey  to 
anarchy. 

In  Great  Britain  there  was  sufficient  law  to  steer  tlm 
bark  of  government  over  the  torrents  of  revolution,  but, 
unfortunately,  there  was  not  always  sufficient  justice.  The 
law  may  be  good,  but  if  it  is  not  arl ministered  justly,  the 


LAW  IN  EXGLAXD  AND  I  RE  LA  XD. 


5 


results  are  scarcely  less  fatal  than  if  there  had  been  no  law 
to  administer. 

In  England,  law  required  justice  to  he  done  to  the  poor, 
■peaking  broadly ;  but  practically  the  law  was  not  always 
administered  justly,  and  had  not  private  individuals  been 
Car  mor?  generous  in  practice  than  in  theory,  the  peasants 
of  Great  Britain  would  have  given  trouble  to  their  masters, 
and  something  more  than  trouble. 

In  Ireland,  the  laws,  as  made  by  Great  Britain,  and 
enforced  by  Great  Britain,  were  not  just;  and  in  Ireland 
there  was  more  than  trouble. 

From  time  to  time  the  people  rose  up  as  they  could 
against  public  injustice,  against  public  oppression,  but 
might  was  for  the  time  stronger  than  right,  and  the  Irish 
Celt  was  too  often  a  victim  at  the  shrine  of  an  unmanly 
revenge.  Still  something  was  gained  even  by  these  dis- 
astrous attempts.1  There  were  men  in  Ireland,  and  there  are 
men  in  Ireland,  who  think  little  of  the  personal  sacrifice 
of  liberty  or  life,  if  they  may  but  gain  some  increase  of 
liberty,  some  happier  condition  of  life  for  those  who  shall 
come  after  them. 

It  remained  for  O'Connell  to  show  that  attention  could 

1  I  have  confined  myself  almost  exclusively  to  English  authorities  for 
proof  of  every  statement  made  in  this  work  with  regard  to  the  condition 
of  Ireland.  In  a  letter  from  Edward  Forlies,  Esq  ,  to  William  Wickhara, 
Esq.,  dated  Dublin  Castle,  July  28,  1798,  he  says,  "  The  universality  of 
conspiracy,  the  frequent  debates  and  the  consequent  trials  keep  up 
irritation.     Our  military  is  also  disorderly,  and  our  yeomen  resentful. 


6 


THE  0' 'CON NELL  PEDIGREE. 


be  attracted  to  Irish  affairs  by  public  agitation,  and  that, 
when  attention  was  once  given  to  them,  some  at  least 
would  see  the  necessity  for  a  government  of  that  country 
which  should  not  excite  rebellion  by  the  enforcement  of 
unjust  laws,  or  perpetuate  it  by  cruelty  in  the  punishment 
of  revolts  excited  by  those  laws. 

O'Connell  was  born  at  Carhen,  near  Cahirciveen,  on  the 
G tli  of  August  1775. 

The  O'Conails,  or  O'Connells,  were  formerly  possessed  of 
the  lordship  of  Magh-O-G-oinin,  now  Magonihy,  in  Kerry. 
The  chiefs  of  the  sept  were  transported  to  Clare  during  the 
usurpation  of  Oliver  Cromwell. 

Hugh  O'Connell,  of  the  race  of  Fiacha-Finghine,  son  of 
Darie-Cearb,  married  Margaret,  the  daughter  of  Moenmoy 
O'Brien,  prince  of  Thomond.    His  son — 

Geoffry  O'Connell  married  Catherine,  daughter  of 
O'Connor  Kerry.    His  sons — 

Donal,  who  married  Honoria,  the  daughter  of  0' Sullivan 
Bere ; 

Hugh,  who  was  knighted  by  Sir  Richard  Nugent,  lord- 

.  .  .  .  We  get  rid  of  seventy  prisoners,  many  of  the  most  important 
of  whom  we  could  not  try,  and  who  could  not  be  disposed  of  without 
doing  such  a  violence  to  the  principles  of  law  and  evidence  as  could  not 
be  well  justified.  Our  zealots  and  yeomen  do  not  relish  this  compro- 
mise, and  there  has  been  a  fine  buzz  on  the  subject,  but  it  being  known 
the  Chancellor  most  highly  approves  of  it,  the  tone  softens." — Corn* 
wullis'  Corres2)Q)idence,  vol.  ii.  p.  378. 


THE  0' CO XX ELL  PEDIGREE. 


7 


deputy  of  Ireland,  with  whom  he  was  a  great  favourite. 
This  chieftain  married  Mary,  base-daughter  of  Donal  Mac- 
Carthv  Mof,  whose  son — 

Maurice  declared  for  Perkin  Warbeck,  but  obtained 
the  pardon  of  Henry  VII.,  through  the  influence  of  Mac- 
Carthy  Mor,  on  the  24th  of  August  1496.  He  married 
Juliana,  the  daughter  of  Rory  O'Sullivan  Mor.  His 
son — 

Morgan  married  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  O'Donovan, 
the  chief  of  Clan-Cathail,  in  Carbery.    His  son — 

Aodh  or  Hugh  married  Mora,  the  daughter  of  Sir  Tadg 
O'Brien,  of  Baille-na-Carriga,  in  the  county  of  Clare.  His 
son — 

Morgan,  called  of  Ballvcarbery,  high-sheriff  of  the  county 
of  Kerry,  married  Helena,  daughter  of  Donal  MacCarthy. 
His  son — 

Richard  assisted  the  Elizabethan  generals  against  the 
great  Geraldine,  surrendered  his  estates,  and  obtained  a 
re-grant  thereof  through  the  influence  of  the  lord-deputy. 
He  married  Johanna,  the  daughter  of  Ceallaghan  Mac- 
Carthy, proprietor  of  Carrignamult,  in  the  county  of  Cork. 
His  son — 

Maurice  was  high  sheriff  of  Kerry,  and  married  Margaret, 
the  daughter  of  Conchobhar,  or  Connor,  O'Callaghan.  His 
Bon — 

Bartholomew  married  Honoria  MacCrohan's  daughter. 
His  son — 


8 


MORGAN  <9' CON NELL 


Geoffrey  married  Miss  Barret,  of  county  Cork.  His 
son — 

Daniel,  of  Aghagabhar,  married  Alice,  the  daughter  of 
Christopher  Segrave,  Esq.,  of  Cabra,  in  the  county  of 
Dublin.    His  son — 

John,  called  of  Aghagower  and  Darrynane,  married 
Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Christopher  Conway,  Esq.,  of 
Clachane,  or  Cloghane,  in  the  county  of  Kerry.  His 
son — 

Daniel  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Dubh  O'Donoghue, 
of  Anwyss,  in  the  county  of  Kerry.  His  son- 
Morgan,  of  Cahirciveen,  in  the  barony  of  Iveragh, 
married  Catherine,  the  daughter  of  John  O'Mullane,  Esq., 
of  Whitechurch,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children,  who  lived 
to  the  age  of  maturity;  viz.y  four  sons  and  six  daughters. 
The  sons  were:  first,  Daniel,  the  subject  of  this  sketch; 
second,  Maurice,  an  officer  in  the  British  service,  who  died 
at  St  Domingo,  in  1796;  third,  John  O'Connell;  and 
fourth,  James  O'Connell,  now  Sir  James,  Bart.,  of  Lake- 
view.  The  daughters  were :  first,  Mary,  who  married 
Jeremiah  M'Carthy,  Esq.  of  Woodview,  County  Cork; 
second,  Honora,  the  wife  of  Daniel  O'Sullivan,  Esq.,  of 
Beendonegan,  in  that  county  ;  third,  Ellen,  who  married 
Daniel  O'Connell,  Esq.,  solicitor-at-law ;  fourth,  Bridget, 
who  married  Myles  M'Sweeny,  Esq.,  late  of  Drounqumney ; 
fifth,  Catherine,  who  married  Humphry  Moynihan,  Esq., 
of  Freemount,  both  in  the  county  Kerry ;  and  sixth, 


BLACK  MARY. 


9 


Alice,  who  married  William  Francis  Finn,  E>q.,  of  Tally- 
roan,  in  the  county  Kilkenny,  for  many  years  M.P.  for  that 
county. 

"  Daniel  O'Connell,  who  married  Morna  Dniv,2  and 
died  in  the  year  1774,  left  his  estate  of  Darrynane  to  his 
eldest  son,  Maurice  O'Connell.  and  he  having  no  family, 
adopted  Daniel  CTConnell  [the  Liberator]  and  his  brother 
"Maurice.    John  O'Connell,  the  Liberator's  son,  in  a  sketch 


-  Moma  Dniv,  nrBla:k  Mary,  was  a  remarkable  character.  The  Kerry 
people  are,  or  perhaps  *ve  should  say  were,  noted  for  the  facility  and 
appropriateness  with  which  they  gave  nicknames.  These  names  were,  and 
still  are  in  common  use.  In  fact,  they  are  almost  necessary  to  distinguish 
the  members  of  different  families  where  a  number  of  people  all  bear  the 
fame  surname.  This  lady  belonged  to  the  old  sept  of  the  O'Donoghuea 
of  the  Lakes,  and  was  not  a  little  proud  of  her  descent.  Her  violence  of 
denunciation,  and  her  remarkable  powers  of  invective  are  still  remem- 
bered in  Keiry.  It  would  appear  that  she  kept  the  purse,  for  when 
paying  the  labourers  their  weekly  wages  she  would  thunder  forth  to  each 
in  her  native  language,  1  May  God  prosper,  or  make  away  your  wages  as 
you  earned  them.'  Morna  was  also  a  poetess,  and  her  daughter,  Mrs 
O'Leary,  wrote  a  poem  of  fierce  invective  on  the  death  of  her  husband, 
Arthur  O'Leary,  who  was  shot  by  a  common  soldier  for  refusing  to  sell 
his  horse  to  a  Protestant  for  five  pounds.  u  Thank  God,"  adds  my  in- 
formant, "  those  days  are  past."  Moma  Duiv's  eldest  son  Maurice, 
who  adopted  the  Liberator,  was  known  by  the  sobriquet  of  "  Old  Hunt- 
ing-cap.'  He  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-five.  I  am  told  he  was 
■  splendid  old  man,  and  though  he  became  blind  as  years  advanced, 
preserved  his  other  faculties  to  the  last.  He  always  wore  his  hunting- 
cap.    An  old  Irish  bardic  topographer  writes  thus  of  the  O'ConnelLj — 

"  O'Connell  of  the  slender  sword, 
Is  over  the  busby-footed  hosts 
A  hazel-tree  of  branching  palms 
For  the  Minister  plain  of  horse  hosts. " 


10 


COUNT  0' CON  NELL. 


of  his  father's  life,  writes  thus  of  another  Daniel  O'Connell 
(see  note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter) : — 

"  Respecting  him  there  existed  many  peculiar  circum- 
stances. First,  he  was  the  two-ancl-twentieth  child  of 
his  father  and  mother.  Secondly,  he  entered  the  French 
service  as  a  sub-lieutenant  of  Clare's  regiment,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  in  the  year  1759.  Thirdly,  unaided  by 
anything  but  his  merit,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  major- 
general.  He  became  colonel-commandant  of  the  German 
regiment,  in  the  French  service,  of  Salm-Salm,  of  two 
battalions,  of  twelve  hundred  men  each,  which  he  con- 
verted from  an  undisciplined  mob  into  confessedly  the 
unest  regiment  in  the  great  French  camp,  at  Metz,  in 
1787.  Fourthly,  he  served  at  the  siege  of  Gibraltar,  in 
1782,  being  then  the  second  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
regiment  of  royal  Swedes — the  first  lieutenant-colonel 
being  the  Count  Fersen,  remarked  for  his  personal  beauty, 
and  his  alleged  intrigues  at  the  court  of  Louis  XVI. 
Fifthly,  Colonel  Daniel  Count  O'Connell — to  which  rank 
he  had  then  arrived—volunteered,  with  one  hundred  men, 
as  marines,  in  the  ship  of  the  French  admiral,  who  vainly 
endeavoured  to  prevent  the  relief  of  Gibraltar  by  Lord 
Hood.  Sixthly,  he  was  severely  wounded  in  the  actual 
attack  upon  Gibraltar,  when  the  French  were  driven  oif  by 
General  (afterwards  Lord)  Elliot ;  and  it  was  because  of 
the  gallantry  he  then  displayed,  that  Louis  XVI.  conferred 
upon  him  the  command  of  the  regiment  of  Salm-Salm. 


COUXT  0' CO XX ELL. 


11 


already  mentioned.  Seventhly,  lie  was  appointed,  in  the 
year  1788,  one  of  the  inspectors-general  of  the  French  in- 
fantry. He  was  the  actual  author  of  the  system  of  in- 
ternal arrangements  of  the  infantry  forces  now  universally 
adopted  in  all  the  European  armies.3  Eighthly,  he  was 
entrusted  in  17S9,  by  Louis  XVI.,  during  the  first  revolu- 
tionary violence,  with  the  command  of  ten  thousand  of  the 
foreign  troops  by  which  Paris  was  surrounded — and  the 
writer  of  this  sketch  has  often  heard  him  declare,  that  if 
Loui<  XVI.  bad  permitted  the  foreign  troops  to  crush  the 
Parisian  revolutionary  mobs,  they  were  both  able  and 
willing  to  do  so ;  but  the  humanity  of  that  benevolent, 
but  weak  monarch  prevented  the  making  of  the  great 
experiment  of  suppression.  Ninthly,  he  remained  about 
the  person  of  the  king  as  long  as  it  was  possible  for 
personal  devotion  to  be  of  any  use;  and  only  emigrated 


•  Sir  Bernard  Burke,  with  reference  to  this  system,  tells  us,  that  in 
the  year  1788,  "The  French  Government  resolved  that  the  art  of  war 
should  undergo  revision  ;  and  a  military  board  was  formed  for  this 
purpose,  comprising  four  general  officers  and  one  colonel.  The  colonel 
selected  was  O'Connell,  who  was  esteemed  one  of  the  most  scientific 
•.jitieers  in  the  service.  Without  patronage  or  family  he  had  risen  to  a 
colonelcy  before  he  had  attained  his  fortieth  year.  Only  a  few  meetings 
of  the  board  had  taken  place  when  the  superior  officers,  struck  with  the 
depth  and  accuracy  of  information,  great  military  genius,  and  correct 
views  displayed  by  Colonel  O  Connell,  unanimously  agreed  to  confide  to 
him  the  renewal  of  the  whole  French  military  code  ;  and  he  executed 
the  arduous  duty  so  perfectly  that  his  tactics  were  those  followed  in  the 
early  campaigns  of  revolutionised  France,  adhered  to  by  Napoleon,  and 
adopted  by  Prussia,  Austria,  Russia,  and  England." 


12 


THE  O'CONNELLS  IN  FRANCE. 


when  if.  was  impracticable  to  serve  the  king  by  any 
other  conduct.  He  then  made  the  Duke  of  Bruns- 
wick's campaign,  as  colonel  d  la  suite ,  in  the  regiment 
of  hussars,  called  '  De  Berchiny;'  and,  after  the  close 
of  that  disastrous  campaign,  repaired  to  England,  where 
he  was  principally  instrumental  in  prevailing  on  the 
British  Government  to  take  into  their  service  the  officers 
of  the  Irish  Brigade  late  in  the  employment  of  France. 
Tenthly,  there  were  six  regiments  forming  that  brigade  in 
the  British  service  ;  and  the  command  of  one  of  them  was 
conferred  upon  him.  Those  regiments  were  exceedingly  ill 
treated  by  the  British  Government ;  and  the  officers  (with 
the  exception  of  the  colonels)  were  unceremoniously  put 
upon  half-pay.  The  colonels,  however,  were,  by  stipula- 
tion, entitled  to  their  full  pay  for  life  ;  and  he  accordingly 
enjoyed  that  pay,  and  his  rank  of  colonel  in  the  British 
service,  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  Being  married  to  a 
St  Domingo  lady,  he  returned  to  France  at  the  peace  of 
Amiens,  to  make  his  claims  to  her  estate ;  but,  on  the 
renewal  of  hostilities,  he  was  detained  as  a  prisoner  in 
Fiance  until  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbon  family. 
Eleventhly,  upon  the  accession  of  Louis  XVIII.,  lie  was 
restored  to  his  rank  as  general  in  the  French  service,  and 
received  his  full  pay  both  as  a  French  general  and  a 
British  colonel,  from  1814  to  the  downfall  of  Charles  X. 
in  1830.  Having  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Louis  Philippe,  he  lost  his  French  pay  ;  but  retained  hia 


O'COXXELL'S  GRANDFATHER. 


13 


pay  as  British  colonel  until  1834,  when  he  died  in  his 
ninety-first  year."4 

As  Daniel  O'Connell's  grandfather  had  twenty- two  chil- 
dren, and  his  father  ten,  a  more  detailed  account  of  his 
family  connections  would  occupy  too  much  space,  and  would 
scarcely  be  of  general  interest,  Mr  O'Neill  Daunt  gives  an 
amusing  anecdote  on  this  subject  in  his  "  Personal  Recol- 
lections of  O'Connell." 

M  My  grandmother,"  said  the  Liberator.  "  had  twenty-two  chil- 
dren, and  half  of  them  lived  beyond  the  age  of  ninety  

Old  Maurice  O'Connell  of  Darrynane  pitched  upon  an  oak-tree  to 
make  his  own  coffin,  and  mentioned  his  purpose  to  a  carpenter. 
In  the  evening,  the  butler  entered  after  dinner  to  say  that  the 
carpenter  wanted  to  speak  to  him.  '  For  what  \ '  asked  my 
uncle.  4  To  talk  about  your  honour's  coffin,'  said  the  carpenter, 
putting  his  head  inside  the  door  over  the  butler's  shoulder.  I 
wanted  to  get  the  fellow  out,  but  my  uncle  said :  '  Oh  !  let  him 
in,  by  all  means.  Well,  friend,  what  do  you  want  to  say  to  me 
about  my  coffin?' — 'Only,  sir,  that  I  sawed  the  oak-tree  your 
honour  was  speaking  of  into  seven-foot  plank.' — '  That  would  be 
wasteful,'  said  my  uncle.  4 1  never  was  more  than  six  feet  and 
an  inch  in  my  vamps,  the  best  day  I  ever  saw.'- -'But  your 
honour  will  stretch  after  death.'  said  the  carpenter.  '  Not  eleven 
inches,  1  am  sure,  you  blockhead  !  But  I  '11  stretch,  no  doubt, 
perhaps  a  couple  of  inches  or  so.  Well,  make  my  coffin  six  feet 
six,  and  1  '11  warrant  that  will  give  me  room  enough.' "  5 

Morgan   O'Connell,  of  Carhen,  had   a   fair  income, 

though  only  a  second  son.    It  is  noticeable  and  character- 


4  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Daniel  O'Connell,  Esq.,  M.P.,  by  his  son 
John  0  Connell,  late  M.P.,  p.  3. 

5  Personal  Recollections  of  O'Connell  by  O'Neill  Daunt. 


14 


CARIIEN. 


fetic  of  the  times  that  lie  was  obliged  to  make  his  first  pur- 
chase of  laud  through  the  intervention  of  a  trustee;  and. 
although  the  consideration  was  paid  by  him,  yet  if  the 
trustee  (a  Protestant)  had  chosen  to  violate  the  trust,  he 
might  have  taken  the  property  to  himself.  Any  Protes- 
tant in  the  community,  who  chose  to  file  a  "  bill  of  dis- 
covery," could  compel  that  trust  to  be  disclosed,  and  could 
take  possession  of  the  estate,  without  repaying  any  part  of 
the  purchase-money.6 

The  young  Daniel  spent  his  boyhood  partly  with  his  father 
at  Carhen,  and  partly  with  his  uncle  at  Darrynane. 
There  is  ample  evidence  that  he  was  a  child  of  more  than 
ordinary  intellect,  and  of  more  than  ordinary  observation. 
He  has  left  his  earliest  impressions  on  record,  and  the  effect 
which  it  had  deserves  special  notice. 

The  famous  Paul  Jones  got  command  of  three  French7 

8  Sketch  by  John  O'Connell,  page  6. 

7  Paul  Jones'  expedition  caused  considerable  disgust  and  dismay. 
Mr  Beresford  wrote  thus  in  a  letter  on  the  subject  dated  Dublin,  April  27, 
1778  :— "  Perhaps  the  most  interesting  to  you  may  be  to  know  the  dis- 
grace brought  upon  the  navy  of  Great  Britain  by  a  dirty  privateer  of  18 
guns,  called,  I  think,  the  Ranger,  commanded  by  a  Scotchman  of  the 
name  of  Jones.  You  have  already  heard  of  this  vessel  ha  ving  come  into 
Carrickfergus  Bay,  and  dropped  anchor  by  the  Drake  sloop-of-war  of  20 
guns,  and  of  her  retiring  upon  the  Drake's  firing  at  her.  She  kept  at 
the  mouth  of  the  harbour  for  eighteen  hours  afterwards,  then  sailed  for 
Whitehaven,  where  you  have  heard  what  she  did,  as  also  in  Scotland. 
She  then  came  back  here  to  sail  again  into  Belfast ;  but  the  Drake 
having  gone  out  on  a  cruise,  met  her  opposite  to  Donaghadee,  where  they 
engaged,  and  after  thirty-eight  hours,  she  took  the  Drake,  having  killed 
her  captain,  his  clerk,  and  several  men,  and  wounded  Lieutenant  Dobbs 


THE  IRISH  BRIGADE. 


15 


ressels  in  177S  to  cruise  in  the  Irish  seas  and  the  English 
Channel.  He  manned  his  small  fleet  with  English  and 
Irish  Bailors  who  had  been  prisoners  of  war  at  Brest,  and 
who  preferred  such  service  to  dying  amidst  all  the  horrors 
of  a  French  prison.  A  company  of  the  Irish  brigade, 
always  ready  to  fight  against  the  country  that  expatriated 
them,  voluntered  to  serve  on  board  the  Bonhomme  llic/tard, 
his  flag-ship. 

The  first  land  made  by  Paul  Jones  upon  his  cruise  from 
Brest,  was  on  the  coast  of  Kerry.  When  he  closed  in 
with  the  haul,  it  fell  a  calm;  and,  the  tide  running  at  the 
rate  of  three  or  four  knots  an  hour,  between  the  Shell igs 
rock  and  Valentia  harbour,  the  situation  of  the  vessels 
became  dangerous,  and  the  boats  were  sent  a-head  to  tow 
them  out  of  their  difficult  position.  Towards  du<k.  a  light 
breeze  springing  up,  the  vessels  got  head-way,  and  were 


a  volunteer  from  Carrickfergus,  and  twenty-one  men.  shattered  the  masta 
and  rigging  of  the  Drake.  She  took  also  two  vessels  which  she  sank, 
and  two  others  which  she  carried  with  her.  She  sailed  north,  with  all 
her  sails  crowded,  with  her  prizes,  intending  fur  Brest.  Three  frigates 
art-,  I  understand,  after  her,  the  Stag,  of  whom  she  has  just  twenty-four 
hours"  law,  the  Boston,  and  another  whose  name  I  forget.''  An  amusing 
observation  of  Mr  Harwood's  which  he  records  at  the  end  of  this  letter, 
deserves  mention  though  not  directly  with  the  present  subject.  You  re- 
member Mr  Harwood's  observation,  "  that  His  Majesty,  God  bless  him, 
was  the  best  natured  man  in  his  dominions  ;  he  was  taking  always  the 
worst  lawyers  in  the  nation  to  himself,  and  leaving  the  best  ones  for  the 
defence  of  his  subjects."  Mr  Harwood  was  M.P.  for  Doveraile  in  1768, 
and  was  celebrated  for  his  bon  mots. — Correspondence  of  the  Right  Hon, 
John  Btresfml}  vol.  i.  p.  29. 


16 


PA  UL  JONES. 


moving  from  the  coast,  and  signals  were  made  for  the  boats 
to  cast  off  and  come  alongside  ;  hut  two  of  the  crews,  con- 
sisting of  some  of  the  Brest  prisoners,  disregarded  the 
signals,  and,  as  the  night  darkened,  pulled  manfully  for 
shore.  They  reached  Valentia  harbour  safely,  pursuit  being 
impossible. 

Here  they  were  received  by  a  gentleman  with  apparent 
hospitality,  but  the  hospitality  was  only  apparent ;  he  at 
once  despatched  messengers  privately  to  Tralee,  that  a 
sufficient  force  of  military  might  be  sent  to  apprehend 
them. 

O'Connell  was  but  three  years  of  age  when  he  witnessed 
this  treachery.  Probably  he  did  not  understand  it  until 
long  after;  but  he  often  spoke  of  one  of  the  prisoners  with 
whose  manner  and  appearance  he  had  been  very  much 
struck.  This  man  was  mounted  on  a  grey  horse,  and  ap- 
peared to  be  the  lawyer  of  the  party,  as  he  remonstrated 
very  loudly  against  the  injustice  which  they  had  suffered.8 

By  way  of  reprisals,  Paul  Jones  seized  some  sailors 
whom  he  found  at  sea  off  the  coast  of  Yalentia.  These  men, 
either  willingly  or  unwillingly,  were  engaged  in  the  cele- 


8  "  They  remonstrated  loudly  against  this  treatment,  alleging  that  they 
had  not  committed  nor  intended  any  breach  of  the  laws,  and  that  the 
authorities  had  no  right  to  deprive  them  of  their  liberty.  I  well  recol- 
lect a  tall  fellow  who  was  mounted  on  a  grey  horse,  remonstrating 
angrily  at  this  coercion.  No  legal  charge  of  course  could  be  sustained 
against  them,  and  accordingly  in  the  end  they  were  released." — Personal 
Recollections  of  O'Conndl,  by  O'Neill  Daunt 


PAUL  JONES. 


17 


brated  action  off  Flamborough  Head,  where  Paul  Jones 
compelled  the  Serapis  to  strike  her  colours  to  his  Jleur- 
de-lis,  but  when  in  the  act  of  securing  his  prize,  his  own 
abip  sunk,  shattered  by  the  fight,  and  riddled  by  cannon 
shot. 

Lieutenants  McCarthy  and  Stack,  who  boarded  with 
their  few  surviving  marines  from  the  tops,  were  the  only 
French  officers  unhurt  in  the  action,  although  they  were 
the  most  exposed.  M'Carthy  died  a  lieutenant-colonel  in 
the  British  service,  and  Stack  died  a  general  in  the  same 
service. 

The  poor  fishermen  were  taken  to  Brest,  where  they  were 
allowed  to  labour  in  the  arsenal,  and  saved  money.  In 
1S4G  one  of  these  men  had  but  recently  died  at  a  great 
age.  He  was  a  native  of  Valentia  island,  by  name  John 
Murphy;  but  from  the  time  of  his  compulsory  adventure 
with  the  pirate,  down  to  his  latest  day,  he  was  better 
known  by  the  sobriquet  of  "  Paul  Jones;"  and  such  is 
the  tenacity  of  the  peasantry  in  matters  of  nomenclature, 
that  his  son,  a  respectable  young  farmer,  was  known  as 
"  Young  Paul  Jones."  The  father  was  a  man  of  great 
industry  and  integrity,  and  died  wealthy. 

Whatever  motive  the  gentleman  who  entrapped  Paul 
Jones'  crew  may  have  had,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
u  King's  Writ"  did  not  always  run  very  safely  in  Kerry , 
and  that  whatever  righteous  indignation  may  have  been 
publicly  shown,  on  the  question  of  foreign  marauders,  there 

B 


18 


SMUGGLING  IN  KERRY. 


was  a  good  deal  of  private  connivance  at  overt  acts  of 
felony. 

Dr  William  Forbes  Taylor,  who  wrote  "  Eeminiscences 
of  Daniel  O'Connell,"  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  a  "  Muin- 
ster  Farmer,"  says  : — 

"  In  consequence  of  this  form  of  intercourse  (the  periodical 
emigrations  to  join  the  Irish  Brigade  in  France),  what  the  law 
called  smuggling,  and  what  those  engaged  in  it  called  free  trade, 
was  very  active  between  the  French  ports  and  this  part  of  Ire- 
land. Morgan  O'Connell's  store,  or  shop,  at  Cahirciveen,  received 
many  a  cargo  of  French  laces,  wines,  and  silks,  which  were  sold 
at  an  immense  profit,  in  the  south  and  west  of  Ireland,  and 
enabled  him  rapidly  to  accumulate  a  large  fortune.  English 
cruisers  avoided  the  iron-bound  coast  of  Kerry,  which  then  had  a 
reputation  even  worse  than  its  reality.  It  was  said,  that  the  men 
of  the  Kerry  coast  combined  wrecking  with  smuggling ;  and  that, 
for  both  purposes,  they  had  organised  a  very  complete  system  of 
posts  and  telegraphic  signals  along  the  bluff  headlands.  When  a 
suspicious  sail  was  announced,  nice  calculations  were  made  to 
ascertain  her  probable  position  after  nightfall.  A  horse  wan  then 
turned  out  to  graze  on  the  fields  near  that  part  of  the  shore 
opposite  to  which  she  most  probably  was,  and  a  lantern  was  tied 
to  the  horse's  head.  Viewed  from  a  distance,  this  light,  rising 
and  falling  as  the  animal  fed,  produced  precisely  the  same  effect 
as  light  in  the  cabin  of  a  distant  ship.  The  crew  of  the  stranger 
vessel,  thus  led  to  believe  that  there  was  open  water  before  them, 
steered  boldly  onwards,  and  could  not  discover  their  error  until 
they  had  dashed  against  the  rocks.  There  is  no  reason  to  believs 
that  the  O'Connells  engaged  in  such  treacherous  transactions ;  but 
there  is  indisputable  evidence,  that  they  were  largely  practised  in 
this  part  of  the  country,  and  that  they  afforded  great  protection 
to  smuggling,  by  deterring  the  English  cruisers  from  the  coast. 
Daniel  O'Connell's  infancy  was  thus  passed  amid  scenes  likely  to 


EDUCATION  FORBIDDEN. 


19 


impress  his  mind  with  stern  hostility  to  the  Protestant  ascend, 
ancy,  and  the  English  Government  by  which  it  was  supported. 
In  the  name  of  that  ascendancy,  he  was  taught  that  His  ancestors 
had  been  plundered  ;  in  the  name  of  that  ascendancy,  he  saw  his 
religion  insulted,  and  his  family  oppressed ;  for  the  penal  laws 
opposed  serious  impediments  to  his  father's  investment  of  the 
profits  of  his  trade  in  the  acquisition  of  land.  All  around  him 
were  engaged  in  a  fiscal  war  with  the  English  government,  and, 
in  the  code  of  Kerry  ethics,  a  seizure  by  the  officers  of  the 
Custom-House  was  regarded  as  a  robbery,  and  the  defrauding  of 
tin;  revenue  a  simple  act  of  justice  to  one's  self  and  family."  9 

Education  was  also  under  penal  law.  By  the  peual 
laws  it  was  "  an  01101106"  for  a  man  to  practise  his  religion. 

9  Proof  has  so  often  been  given  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  that  it 
seems  scarcely  necessary  to  repeat  it  here  ;  yet  the  Irish  are  so  frequently 
taunted  with  laziness  and  indifference,  that  it  should  be  remembered 
how  little  there  has  been  in  their  antecedents  to  have  induced  habits 
of  industry.  They  were  not  allowed  to  engage  in  trade.  Arthur 
Young,  after  alluding  to  the  discouragements,  under  the  penal  laws,  to 
Catholics  engaging  in  any  regular  trade,  requiring  both  industry  and 
capital,  exclaims — u  If  they  succeed  and  make  a  fortune,  what  are  they 
to  do  with  it  ?  They  can  neither  buy  land,  nor  take  a  mortgage,  nor 
even  fine  down  the  rent  of  a  lease.  "Where  is  there  a  people  in  the  world 
to  be  found  industrious  under  such  circumstances?" 

Down  to  the  present  century,  the  smugglers  of  England  were  as  inju- 
rious to  their  own  Government,  as  serviceable  to  that  of  France.  The 
Emperor  Napoleon  L  said,  at  St  Helena,  to  Dr  O'Meara — "  During  the 
war  with  you,  all  the  intelligence  I  received  from  England  came  through 
the  smugglers.  They  are  terrible  people,  and  have  courage  and  ability 
to  do  anything  for  money.  ...  At  one  time,  there  were  upwards  of  500 
of  them  at  Dunkerque.  I  had  every  information  I  wanted  through 
them.  They  brought  over  newspapers  and  despatches  from  the  spies 
that  we  had  in  London.  They  took  over  spies  from  France,  landed  and 
kept  them  in  their  houses  for  some  days,  then  dispersed  them  over  the 
country,  and  brought  them  back  when  wanted.'1 


do 


EFFECTS  OF  PENAL  LAWS. 


Englishmen  had  changed  their  religion,  and  therefore  the 
Irishman  should  change  his.  But  there  was  one  curious 
fallacy  in  the  mode  of  reasoning  by  which  this  conclusioi 
was  evolved.  Englishmen  declared  (in  theory,  and  veri, 
loudly),  that  they  claimed  for  themselves  the  right  of  free 
judgment,  of  believing  as  they  thought  fit,  of  interpreting 
the  Bible  for  themselves.  But  for  the  exercise  of  this  right, 
for  which  they  even  asserted  a  divine  origin,  a  similar 
liberty  was  not  allowed  to  others — above  all  to  their  Celtio 
neighbour.  It  was  indeed  true  that  they  denied  this  right 
even  to  each  other,  that  they  were  by  no  means  agreed  as  to 
which  was  the  divine  religion,  which  men  should  accept  aa 
such  ;  that  Puritan  and  Baptist,  Roundhead  and  Cavalier, 
persecuted  each  other  when  they  could,  for  the  love  of  God, 
as  cruelly  as  they  united  in  persecuting  the  Catholic;1  but 
this  was  poor  consolation  to  the  Irish.  Englishmen  had  not 
often,  or  for  any  great  length  of  time,  the  power  of  perse- 
cuting each  other  on  religious  grounds;  unhappily  for 
themselves  they  had  a  permanent  opportunity,  and  a  per- 
manent power  of  exercising  such  persecutions  in  Ireland. 

1  "Afther  well  damning  one  half  the  community, 
To  pray  God  to  keep  all  in  pace  an'  in  unity." 

— The  Fudges  in  England. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  these  extremely  clever  sarcasms  on  the  anomaliea 
of  religious  strife,  had  a  powerful  influence  in  removing  prejudice,  if  no* 
ignorance,  and  showed  the  folly  of  the  state  of  mind  in  which  a  man 
*'  Pledged  himself  to  be  no  more 

With  Ireland's  wrongs  begrieved  or  sharam'd; 
To  vote  her  grievances  a  bore, 
So  she  may  suffer  and  be  .'* 


LORD  CAP  EL. 


21 


In  entering  fully  into  this  matter,  we  would  observe 
that  it  is  from  no  desire  to  recal  tlie  Litter  past,  or  to  excite 
feelings  which  are  suppressed,  if  they  are  not  passed  away. 
But  it  would  be  quite  impossible  to  understand  O'Connell's 
life,  or  0' Council's  work,  unless  these  subjects  were  fully 
considered  and  thoroughly  understood.  In  his  boyhood  he 
was  himself  the  victim  of  these  oppressions,  and  though  his 
experience  of  them  was  comparatively  trifling,  it  should  not 
be  forgotten  that  he  lived  at  a  period  when  old  men  could 
tell  him  tales  of  personal  pains  and  penalties,  of  a  rule 
which  a  truthful  English  Protestant  writer  designated  as 
only  fit  for  the  meridian  of  Barbary.* 

In  the  year  1695,  some  eighty  years  before  the  time  of 
which  we  write,  when  Lord  Capel  was  appointed  Viceroy, 
he  at  ouce  summoned  a  parliament,  which  sat  for  several 
sessions,  and  in  which  some  of  the  penal  laws  against 
Catholics  were  enacted.    As  I  believe  the  generality  even 

1  "  Severity  which  seemed  calculated  for  the  meridian  of  Bar- 
bnrv,  while  others  remain  yet  the  law  of  the  land,  which  wrould,  if 
executed,  tend  more  to  raise  than  to  quell  an  insurrection.  From  all 
which  it  is  manifest,  that  the  gentlemen  of  Ireland  never  thought  of  a 
ndical  cure,  from  overlooking  the  real  cause  of  disease,  which,  in  fact, 
by  in  themselves,  and  not  in  the  wretches  they  doomed  to  the  gallows. 
Let  them  change  their  own  conduct  entirely,  and  the  poor  will  not  long 
riot.  Treat  them  like  men,  who  ought  to  be  as  free  as  yourselves  ;  put 
an  end  to  that  system  of  religious  persecution,  which,  for  seventy  years, 
has  divided  the  kingdom  against  itself— in  these  two  circumstances  lies 
the  cure  of  insurrection  ;  perform  them  completely,  and  you  will  have 
an  affectionate  poor,  instead  of  oppressed  and  discontented  vassals."— 
You.iy's  Tour,  vol.  ii.  42. 


22 


A  PROTESTANT  PROTEST 


of  educated  persons,  both  in  England  and  Ireland,  are 
ent  irely  ignorant  of  what  these  laws  really  were,  I  shall 
give  a  brief  account  of  their  enactments,  premising  first, 
that  seven  lay  peers  and  seven  Protestant  bishops  had  the 
honourable  humanity  to  sign  a  protest  against  them. 

(1.)  The  Catholic  peers  were  deprived  of  their  right  to 
sit  in  parliament.  (2.)  Catholic  gentlemen  were  forbidden 
to  be  elected  as  members  of  parliament.  (3.)  All  Catholics 
were  denied  the  liberty  of  voting,  and  excluded  from  all 
offices  of  trust,  and  indeed  from  all  remunerative  employ- 
ment, however  insignificant.3  (4.)  They  were  fined  £60 
a-month  for  absence  from  the  Protestant  form  of  worship. 
(5.)  They  were  forbidden  to  travel  five  miles  from  their 
houses,  to  keep  arms,  to  maintain  suits  at  law,  or  to  be 
guardians  or  executors.  (6.)  Any  four  justices  of  the  peace 
could,  without  further  trial,  banish  any  man  for  life  if  he 
refused  to  attend  the  Protestant  service.  (7.)  Any  two 
justices  of  the  peace  could  call  any  man  over  sixteen  before 
them,  and  if  he  refused  to  abjure  the  Catholic  religion,  they 
could  bestow  his  property  to  the  next  of  kin.  (8.)  No 
Catholic  could  employ  a  Catholic  schoolmaster  to  educate 
his  children;  and  if  he  sent  his  child  abroad  for  education; 

3  A  petition  was  sent  in  to  Parliament  by  the  Protestant  porters  of 
Dublin,  complaining  of  Darby  Ryan  for  employing  Catholic  porters. 
The  petition  was  respectfully  received,  and  referred  to  a  "  Committee 
of  Grievances."— Com.  Jour.,  vol.  ii.  f.  699.  Such  an  instance,  and  it  ia 
only  one  of  many,  is  the  best  indication  of  the  motive  for  enacting  the 
penal  laws,  and  the  cruelty  of  them. 


AOAIXST  THE  PEXAL  LAWS. 


23 


he  was  subject  to  a  fine  of  £100,  and  the  child  could  not 
inherit  any  property  either  in  England  or  Ireland.  (9.)  Any 
Catholic  priest  who  came  to  the  country  should  be  hanged. 
(10.)  Any  Protestant  suspecting  any  other  Protestant  of 
bedding  property4  in  trust  for  auy  Catholic,  might  file  a 
bill  against  the  suspected  trustee,  and  take  the  estate  or 
property  from  him.  (11.)  Any  Protestant  seeing  a  Catholic 
tenant-at-will  on  a  farm,  which,  in  his  opinion,  yielded 
one-third  more  than  the  yearly  rent,  might  enter  on  that 
farm,  and  by  simply  swearing  to  the  fact,  take  possession. 
(12.)  Any  Protestant  might  take  away  the  horse  of  a 
Catholic,  no  matter  how  valuable,  by  simply  paying  him 
£5.  (13.)  Horses  and  waggons  belonging  to  Catholics, 
were  in  all  cases  to  be  seized  for  the  use  of  the  militia. 


4  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  this  time  Catholics  were  in  a  ma- 
jority of  at  least  five  to  one  over  Protestants.  Hence  intermarriages 
took  place,  and  circumstances  occurred,  in  which  Protestants  found  it 
their  interest  to  hold  property  for  Catholics,  to  prevent  it  from  being 
nixed  by  others.  A  gentleman  of  considerable  property  in  the  county  of 
Kerry  lias  informed  me  that  his  property  was  held  in  this  way  for  several 
generations. 

It  was  the  opinion  of  O'Connell  himself,  that  no  landed  estates  could 
have  remained  in  the  possession  of  Catholics,  "only  that  individual  Pro- 
testants wera  found  a  great  deal  honest er  than  the  laws.  The  Freeman 
family  of  Castlecor,"  he  observed,  "  were  trustees  for  a  large  number  of 
Catholic  gentlemen  in  the  county  of  Cork.  In  Kerry  there  was  a  Pro- 
testant, named  Hugh  Falvey,  who  acted  as  trustee  for  many  Catholic 
proprietors  there.  In  Dublin  there  was  a  poor  Protestant,  in  very 
humble  circumstances,  who  was  trustee  for  several  Catholic  gentlemen, 
and  discharged  his  trust  with  perfect  integrity/ — (/ Neill  Daunt  s  Personal 
Recollections. 


241 


A   CONVERSION  FROM  POPERY 


(14.)  Any  Catholic  gentleman's  child  who  became  a  Pro- 
testant, could  at  once  take  possession  of  his  fathers 
property, 

O'Connell,  who  had  a  fund  of  anecdote,  was  accustomed 
to  relate  an  amusing  incident  on  the  subject  of  the  peculiar 
facilities  afforded  for  a  change  of  religion. 

A  Mr  Myers,  of  Eoscommon,  was  threatened  that  a  "bill 
of  discovery  "  would  be  filed  against  him  ;  in  other  words, 
that  one  of  the  enactments  of  the  penal  laws  would  be  put 
in  force,  and  that  he,  being  a  Catholic,  would  be  ejected  by 
a  Protestant  who  would  legally  claim  his  estate. 

Mr  Myers  preferred  his  property  to  his  religion,  and 
immediately  posted  to  Dublin  in  all  haste.  Here  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Protestant  Archbishop,  and  informed  him  of 
his  desire  to  be  received  into  the  State  Church.  The  arch- 
bishop examined  him  upon  the  points  of  difference  be- 
tween the  two  churches,  and  found  that  he  knew  nothing 
at  all  about  the  matter.  He  accordingly  said  he  could  not 
receive  him  into  the  Anglican  Church  unless  he  should  get 
some  previous  instruction ;  and  politely  offered  to  commit 
him  to  the  care  of  the  Rector  of  Castlerea,  who  chanced  to 
be  in  Dublin  at  the  time.  The  proposal  was  most  gratify- 
ing to  Mr  Myers,  for  he  and  the  rector  had  long  been  boon 
companions.  They  met  in  Dublin,  as  they  had  met  in 
Eoscommon,  dined  together  every  day  for  a  week,  and  thus 
Mr  Myers  went  through  his  course  of  theological  instruc- 
tion.   The  conversation  may  not  have  been  very  spiritual, 


Ai\D   THE  O ROUNDS  FOR  IT. 


25 


but  O'Conuell  declares  that  a  good  deal  of  spirits  were 
consumed.  Be  this  as  if  may.  and  it  certainly  was  the 
custom  of  the  times  to  indulge  freely,  Mr  Myers  considered 
himself  sufficiently  prepared,  and  his  friend  the  rector 
agreed  with  him. 

Whatever  the  private  feelings  or  reluctance  of  the  arch- 
bishop  may  have  heen,  he  could  scarcely  refuse  to  receive 
an  important  convert ;  he  permitted  him  to  make  his  solemn 
public  abjuration  of  the  errors  of  Popery,  and  to  receive  the 
Protestant  sacrament.  In  order  to  celebrate  the  happy 
event,  the  prelate  invited  Myers  and  several  zealous  Pro- 
testant friends  to  dinner.  When  the  cloth  was  removed, 
his  Grace  thus  addressed  the  convert:  "Mr  Myers,  you 
have  this  day  been  received  into  the  true  Protestant 
Church.  For  this  you  should  thank  God.  I  learn  with 
pleasure  from  the  Rector  of  Castlerea  that  you  have  ac- 
quired an  excellent  knowledge  of  the  basis  of  the  Protest- 
ant religion.  Will  you  he  so  kind  as  to  state,  for  the 
edification  of  the  company,  the  grounds  upon  which  you 
have  cast  aside  Popery  and  embraced  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land/— ;  Faith,  my  lord/  replied  Myers,  1  I  can  easily  do 
that ;  the  grounds  of  my  conversion  to  the  Protestant  re- 
ligion are  two  thousand  rive  hundred  acres  of  the  best 
grounds  in  the  county  Roscommon."  The  reply  of  the 
archbishop  is  not  on  record,  but  we  hope  there  are  few 
who  will  not  agree  with  us  in  thinking  it  very  pitiful  and 
very  little  creditable  to  humanity,  that  man  should  be  com- 


so 


O'CONNELVS  FAMILY. 


pelled  by  his  fellow-man  to  violate  his  conscience  on  the 
pretence  of  enforcing  a  religion. 

0' Council  was  singularly  susceptible  of  female  influence, 
and  if  at  one  period  of  his  early  life  this  susceptibility  led 
him  into  evil,  it  was  only  because  all  that  is  best  and 
purest  in  human  nature  is  liable  to  perversion.  He  was 
tenderly  attached  to  his  mother,  and,  like  many  great  men, 
attributed  much  of  his  success  in  life  to  her  influence,  ex- 
ample, and  teaching. 

He  often  spoke  of  her  in  after  years  ;  and  even  when  his 
wonderful  career  was  near  its  close,  in  1841,  he  wrote 
thus : — ■ 

"  I  am  the  son  of  a  sainted  mother,  who  watched  over  my 
childhood  with  the  most  faithful  care  ;  she  was  of  a  high  order  of 
intellect,  and  what  little  I  possess  was  bequeathed  me  by  her 
I  may,  in  fact,  say  without  vanity,  that  the  superior  situation  in 
which  I  am  placed  by  my  countrymen  has  been  owing  to  her. 
Her  last  breath  was  passed,  I  thank  Heaven,  in  calling  down 
blessings  on  my  head  ;  and  I  valued  her  blessing  since.  In  the 
perils  and  the  dangers  to  which  I  have  been  exposed  through  life, 
I  have  regarded  her  blessing  as  an  angel's  shield  over  me  ;  and  as 
it  has  been  my  protection  in  this  life,  I  look  forward  to  it  also  as 
one  of  the  means  of  obtaining  hereafter  a  happiness  greater  than 
any  this  world  can  give."  6 

He  was  proud  of  his  family  also,  and  anxious  to  discover 
any  mention  of  them  in  Irish  history.  However  he  may 
have  used  the  suaviter  in  mcdo  as  his  style  in  winning 
popular  affection  and  applause,  he  could  practise  the  for* 


6  In  the  Belfast  Vindicator,  letter  dated  20tli  January  1841. 


BARR  TNA  NE  ABBEY. 


27 


titer  in  re,  if  any  undue,  or  shall  we  say  '•blarneying," 
influence  was  tried  on  him  personally.  There  waa 
some  talk  at  Darrynaue6  one  day  on  the  subject  of  pedi- 

6  The  following  account  of  the  Ahhey  of  Darrynane,  of  which  an 
illustration  is  given  at  the  head  of  this  chapter,  was  drawn  up  for 
my  "History  of  Kerry"  by  the  present  proprietor,  Daniel  0  Connell, 
Esq.,  J. P.,  the  grandson  of  the  Liberator.  This  gentleman  is  devoted 
to  archaeological  pursuits,  and  a  contributor  to  many  scientific  journals. 
The  "  abbey,"  so  called,  of  Darrynane,  or  Ahavore,  was  a  small  establish- 
ment of  Canons  Regular  of  St  Augustine.  The  remains  consist  of  the 
church  and  some  domestic  buildings. 

The  church  is  a  simple  parallelogram,  about  40  feet  by  18  feet.  The 
walls  remain,  but  the  roof  has  long  since  disappeared.  There  are  two 
doors  in  the  north  and  south  walls,  towards  the  west  end,  opposite  one 
another  :  that  to  the  north  has  been  the  principal  entrance,  and  has 
some  slight  remains  of  a  moulded  jamb  and  arch,  the  mouldings  bein» 
of  very  early  character.  One  of  the  heads  which  supported  the  label 
moulding,  and  some  traces  of  the  moulding  itself,  remain,  but  in  a  very 
worn  and  mutilated  condition.  The  south  door  opened  into  the  court- 
yard of  the  monastery,  and  had  a  plain  chamfered  jamb  and  arch.  Both 
doors  had  pointed  arches.  On  the  north  side,  the  church  was  lit  by  two 
small  round-headed  lancets,  having  the  common  early  "  chamfer  and 
square"  for  jamb  and  arch  moulding.  A  similar  window  is  in  the  south- 
east corner.  The  east  window  is  a  triplet  of  lancets,  very  narrow,  with 
pointed  heads,  and  similar  mouldings  to  the  side  windows.  These  east 
windows  have  been  at  some  period  blocked  up  with  masonry  to  nearly 
half  their  height ;  apparently  at  the  same  time  the  doors  have  been 
partially  blocked  up  on  the  inside,  and  converted  into  square-headed 
openings.  All  the  windows  have  very  wide  splays  internally,  carried 
round  the  heads  of  the  eastern  group.  None  of  the  windows  have  any 
rebate  or  groove  for  glass,  but  seem  to  have  been  barred  with  iron. 

The  floor  has  been  greatly  raised  by  interments.  A  piscina  with 
plain  chamfer  and  round-headed  trefoil  arch  remains.  It  has  had  a 
double  basin,  and  a  credence-shelf.  Owing  to  the  rise  of  the  floor,  tha 
basin  is  now  only  a  few  inches  over  the  ground  inside. 

A  rude  block  of  masonry  at  the  east  end  formed  an  altar.  Although 


28 


DA  It  11  YNANE  ABBEY. 


grees  and  descents.  O'Connell  said  something  about  hia 
family.  "  Oh  ! "  exclaimed  a  guest,  "  I  saw  your  name  in 
Macgeogehan's  "  History  of  Ireland,"  somewhere  at  a  very 
early  date." 

The  Liberator  looked  greatly  pleased.  "  Pray  get  the 
book,"  he  said ;  "  it  is  in  the  library."  The  book  was 
got,  but  the  passage  was  not  forthcoming,  and  the  gentle- 

the  upper  part  and  slab  are  gone,  still  this  rises  much  above  the  sill  of 
the  east  windows,  and  is  singularly  high  compared  to  the  piscina.  It 
would  seem,  that,  after  being  disused,  and  the  floor  raised,  the  church 
had  been  again  adapted  for  service,  the  present  altar  built,  and  the 
windows  behind  blocked  up  to  suit  the  altered  level.  A  curious  pro- 
jection of  the  rubble  blocking  of  the  north-east  lancet  seems  to  have 
served  as  a  corbel  for  a  statue  or  lamp. 

The  domestic  buildings  are  in  the  form  of  an  |_  one  limb  joining  the 
church  near  the  south-east  angle,  the  other  projecting  from  this  to  the 
west.  These  are  very  rude,  and  have  no  architectural  features  of  any 
interest.  The  limb  joining  the  church  has  some  rude  windows,  and  a 
door  of  rubble  work  in  the  east  side  wall,  but  they  are  much  injured. 
A  door,  with  pointed  arch  of  rubble,  may  be  traced  in  the  west  wall, 
near  the  south-west  angle.  It  is  blocked,  and  the  gable  of  the  second 
wing  built  against  it.  Of  the  latter,  only  the  gables  and  portions  of  the 
side  walls  remain. 

All  the  buildings  are  of  rubble  work,  very  rude,  with  a  great  quantity 
of  mortar  of  the  local  slate  stone.  The  window  and  door-dressings  in 
the  church  are  of  brown  sandstone,  from  a  quarry  near  the  ruins.  Owin$» 
to  the  bad  weather-quality  of  this,  they  are  much  injured  by  time. 

The  wails  of  the  domestic  buildings  do  not  bond  with  those  of  the 
church,  nor  with  one  another.  The  buildings  appear,  therefore,  to  have 
been  erected  at  three  distinct  periods — the  church  being  probably  the 
earliest.    No  fire-places  nor  flues  remain,  or  can  have  existed. 

In  consequence  of  the  east  wall  of  the  church  having  settled  out,  and 
threatening  to  fall,  Mr  O'Connell  has  lately  had  two  strong  buttressei 
built  to  support  it. 


THE  IRISH  BRIGADE. 


£9 


man  was  obliged  to  admit  that  he  believed  he  had  made 
a  mistake. 

O'Connell  flung  himself  out  of  the  room  with  a  petulance 
he  seldom  exhibited,  and,  as  he  retired,  was  heard  muttering 
something  about  "  humbug."  As  I  have  this  anecdote  from 
a  gentleman  who  was  present,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
authenticity. 

O'Neill  Daunt  says  in  his  14  Recollections  "that  O'Connell 
44  was  angry  at  the  disparaging  manner  in  which  his 
family  had  been  spoken  of  by  an  anonymous  writer  in  the 
4  Mask,'  who  described  leading  members  of  Parliament. 
4  The  vagabond  allows  me  a  large  share  of  talent,  but  he 
says  I  am  of  humble  origin.  My  father's  family  was  very 
ancient,  and  my  mother  was  a  lady  of  the  first  rank.'7 

44  In  the  time  of  James  II.,  Maurice  O'Conal,  of  the 
county  Clare,  was  a  general  of  brigade  and  colonel  of  the 
king's  guards.  In  that  regiment  John  O'Conal  of  Darry- 
nane — the  lineal  ancestor  of  the  Liberator — served  at  the 
head  of  a  company  of  foot  which  he  himself  had  raised  and 
embodied  in  the  regiment. 

44  When  the  Irish  lost  the  day  at  Aughrim,  John  retired 
with  his  shattered  regiment  to  Limerick,  and  was  included  in 
the  treaty  or  capitulation  of  that  stronghold.  Respecting 


7  In  one  of  Victor  Hugo's  works  there  is  an  analysis  made  by  him  ol 
the  great  men  of  modern  times  who  were  respectivel}'  of  noble  and 
plebeian  blood,  and  among  the  former  he  classes  "  O'Connell,  gentil* 
homme  Irlandais." 


BO 


JOHN  0' CON NELL   OF  ASUTOWK 


this  gentleman,  O'Connell  told  an  anecdote  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  which  awakened  a  storm  of  anger,  groans, 
and  turbulence.  When  the  storm  had  abated,  O'Connell, 
unabashed  by  the  noisy  vociferation  of  the  house,  pro- 
ceeded with  his  anecdote,  which  he  deemed  illustrative  of 
the  subject  before  him  :  1  On  the  morning  of  the  battle  of 
Aughrim,  an  ancestor  of  mine,  who  commanded  a  com- 
pany of  infantry  in  King  James's  army,  reprimanded  one 
of  his  men  who  had  neglected  to  shave  himself,  '  Oh  !  your 
honour,'  said  the  soldier,  6  whoever  takes  the  trouble  of 
cutting  my  head  off  in  battle  may  take  the  trouble  of 
shaving  it  when  he  goes  home.'  " 

Of  another  of  his  ancestors  he  spoke  thus  : — 
"  In  1655,  John  O'Connell  of  Ashtown,  near  Dublin, 
the  brother  of  the  lineal  ancestor  of  the  Liberator,  proved 
his  good  affection  to  Oliver  Cromwell  by  conforming  to 
Protestantism.  He  thereby  preserved  his  estate.  '  I  saw 
his  escutcheon,"  said  the  Liberator,  '  on  the  wall  of  St 
James's  church,  in  Dublin,  some  twenty  years  ago.  I  do 
not  know  if  it  be  there  still." 

In  Smith's  "  History  of  Kerry,"  the  O'Connell  family  and 
pedigree  are  scarcely  mentioned.  A  reason  is  given  for 
this  omission  which  is  singularly  and  painfully  character- 
istic of  the  times  :— 

"  In  the  course  of  his  literary  peregrinations,  Dr  Smith  visited 
Darrynane,  where  he  was  entertained  for  several  days  by  the 
grandfather  of  the  great  Agitator.    The  patriarch  of  Iveragh,  in 


DATE  OF  O'COXXELTS  BIRTH. 


31 


the  course  of  conversation,  communicated  to  the  historian  many 
interesting  particulars  of  local  and  domestic  history.  Warmed  by 
his  genial  hospitality  and  delighted  with  his  fund  of  anecdote, 
Dr  Smith  proposed  to  Mr  O'Connell  to  devote  a  due  proportion 
of  the  forthcoming  history  to  the  virtues  and  heroism  of  the  Clan- 
Connell.  The  reply  was  not  very  encouraging  :  1  We  have  peace, 
in  these  glens,  Mr  Smith,'  said  the  patriarch,  'and  amid  their 
seclusion  enjoy  a  respite  from  persecution  :  we  can  still  in  these 
solitudes  profess  the  beloved  faith  of  our  fathers.  If  man  is 
against  us,  God  assists  us ;  He  gives  us  wherewithal  to  pay  for  the 
education  of  our  children  in  foreign  lands  and  to  further  their 
advancement  in  the  Irish  Brigade  ;  but  if  you  make  mention  of 
me  or  mine,  these  sea-side  solitudes  will  no  longer  yield  us  an 
asylum.  The  Sassenagh  will  scale  the  mountains  of  Darrynane. 
and  we  too  shall  be  driven  out  upon  the  world  without  house  or 
home.'  The  wishes  of  the  patriarch  were  respected  by  the  his- 
torian— a  broken  sentence  is  all  he  devotes  to  the  annals  of  the 
Clan-Connell." 

In  truth,  this  anecdote,  for  the  authenticity  of  which  we 
can  vouch,  reads  but  too  much  like  the  piteous  plea  of  the 
Red  Indian  to  the  white  man;  all  he  asks  is  to  be  left  in 
peace,  to  be  allowed  to  live,  to  be  spared  even  his  poverty. 
It  is  not  creditable  to  our  common  humanity  that  such 
pleas  should  have  ever  been  uttered  by  those  who  were  once 
united  in  one  faith,  and  whc  at  least  believed  in  one 
Father. 

O'Connell  was  also  very  particular  that  the  date  of  liia 
birth  should  be  given  correctly,  and  wrote  on  one  occasion 
to  contradict  some  mistakes  which  had  been  made  on  this 
subject.    He  commenced  by  saying  that  it  was  right  to  be 


32 


EARLY  TASTE  FOR  LIT  ERA  T  URE. 


accurate  in  trifles.  He  then  goes  on  to  say  that. a  para- 
graph had  appeared  in  the  journals  which  he  was  desirous 
of  contradicting.  u  It  contained  two  mistakes — it  asserted 
tli at  I  was  born  in  1774,  and  secondly,  that  I  was  intended 
for  the  Church.  I  was  not  intended  for  the  Church.  No 
man  respects,  loves,  or  submits  to  the  Church  with  more 
alacrity  than  I.  But  I  was  not  intended  for  the  priesthood. 
It  is  not  usual  with  the  Catholic  gentry  in  Ireland  to  de- 
termine the  religious  destiny  of  their  children;  and  being 
an  eldest  son,  born  to  an  independence,  the  story  of  my 
having  been  intended  for  the  Church  is  a  pure  fabrication. 
I  was  not  born  in  the  year  1774.  Be  it  known  to  all  whom 
it  may  concern  that  I  was  born  on  the  6th  of  August  1775, 
the  very  year  in  which  the  stupid  obstinacy  of  British 
oppression  forced  the  reluctant  people  of  America  to  seels 
security  in  arms,  and  to  commence  that  bloody  struggle  foi 
national  independence  which  has  been  in  its  results  bene- 
ficial to  England,  whilst  it  has  shed  glory  and  conferred 
liberty,  pure  and  sublime,  on  America."  8 

The  Liberator's  literary  tastes  manifested  themselves 
early  in  life ;  and  again,  in  relating  how  he  mastered  the 
alphabet,  we  find  yet  another  illustration  of  the  unhappy 
state  of  unhappy  Ireland.  It  was  a  crime  for  a  man  to 
have  his  children  taught  to  read  in  Ireland ;  and  when  it 
was  found  that  Irish  love  of  learning  was  too  strong  even 
for  penal  laws,  and  that  the  Irishman  sent  his  sons  to 


8  Dublin  Evening  Post,  17th  July  1828. 


STATE  OF  EDCCATIOX  IN    IRELAND.  33 


obtain  abroad  the  advantages  that  were  denied  to  him  at 
home,  it  was  further  made  penal  to  seek  education  abroad. 
In  truth,  it  was  hard  to  know  what  was  not  penal  in  Ire- 
land for  a  Catholic,  and,  in  truth,  any  reproach  on  "  Irish 
ignorance "  comes  with  an  ill  grace  from  those  whose 
ancestors  did  their  best  to  render  Irishmen  a  nation  of 
ignorant  slaves.  We  may  be  pardoned  for  doubting,  since 
we  neither  desire  to  deny  our  nationality  nor  apologise  for 
it,  if  the  case  had  been  reversed,  whether  the  English 
serf  would  have  made  as  painful  efforts,  and  as  great  sacri- 
fices to  secure  himself  education,  had  it  been  thus  denied 
to  him. 

For  Protestant  education,  however,  every  provision  was 
made.  For  the  upper  classes  there  was  Trinity  College, 
Dublin;  for  the  lower  classes  there  were  the  Charter  Schools. 
These  schools  were  founded  in  1733,  in  response  to  a  peti- 
tion of  the  Protestant  primate  and  archbishop,  clergy,  and 
laity.    The  preamble  of  the  petition  ran  thus  : — 

"  Humbly  sheweth, — That  in  many  parts  of  Ireland  there  are 
great  tracks  of  mountaining  (sic)  and  coarse  land,  of  ten,  twenty, 
or  thirty  miles  in  length,  and  of  a  considerable  breadth,  almost 
universally  inhabited  by  Papists,  and  that  in  most  parts  of  the 
same,  and  more  especially  in  the  provinces  of  Leinster,  Minister, 
and  Connaught,  the  Papists  far  exceed  the  Protestants  in  all  sorts 
of  numbers  (sic). 

"That  the  generality  of  the  Popish  natives  appear  to  have  very 
little  sense  or  belief  of  religion,  but  what  they  implicitly  take  from 
their  clergy  (to  whose  guidance  in  such  matters  they  seem  wholly 
to  give  themselves  up),  and  thereby  are  unfit,  not  only  in  gross 

c 


84 


THE  CHARTER,  SCHOOLS. 


ignorance,  but  in  great  disaffection  to  yonr  sacred  Majesty  and 
Government— so  that,  if  some  effectual  method  be  not  made  use 
of  to  instruct  these  great  numbers  of  people  in  the  principles  of 
loyalty  and  religion,  there  seems  to  be  very  little  prospect  but 
that  superstition,  idolatry,  and  disaffection  to  your  Majesty,  or 
to  your  royal  posterity,  will,  from  generation  to  generation,  be 
propagated  amongst  them."  9 

And  so  the  Charter  Schools  were  established.  It  was  the 
old  story,  as  old  as  the  first  ages  of  Christianity:  the  Chris- 
tians were  disloyal  because  they  obeyed  God,  in  preference 
to  Csesar,  even  while  they  proved  their  loyalty  to  Caesar,  in 
all  that  was  not  disloyal  to  their  God,  by  pouring  out  their 
life's  blood  in  torrents  for  tbe  support  of  the  empire.  The 
Thundering  Legion,  whose  Christian  soldiers  obtained  by 
prayer1  the  salvation  of  the  army  of  Marcus  Aurelius, 
received  no  better  treatment  at  the  hands  of  their  Pagan 
calumniators  than  the  Irish  who  were  loyal  to  James,  the 
faithless  Stuart. 

And  these  schools,  in  which  the  "  ignorant"  Irish  were 
to  receive  their  education,  were  thus  described  by  the  bene- 
volent Howard  and  Sir  Jerome  Fitzpatrick  the  Government 
inspector-general : — 

"  The  children,  generally  speaking,  are  unhealthy,  half* 


9  "  Ireland's  Grievances— The  Penal  Laws,"  p.  29.  Dublin:  ]812. 
Catholics  were  not  admitted  to  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  until  1793,  even 
as  humble  students,  unambitious  of  academical  honours  or  promotion. 

1  The  authenticity  of  this  miracle  is  admitted  even  by  pagan  histo- 
rians. See  Dion  Cassius,  Capitolinus,  Claudius,  and  Tillemont,  vol.  ii, 
p.  370. 


HEDGE  SCHOOLMASTERS. 


9S 


starved,  in  rags,  totally  uneducated,  too  much  worked,  and 
in  all  respects  shamefully  neglected." 

The  hedge-schoolmasters  who  taught  in  fear  and  trem- 
bling, while  one  pupil  watched  the  road,  that  all  might  dis- 
perse promptly,  if  an  enemy  to  learning  came  in  sight,  or  the 
itinerant  schoolmaster  who  wandered  from  house  to  house, 
as  perhaps  a  safer  method  of  obtaining  a  precarious  exist- 
ence, were  the  only  instructors  of  the  Irish  youth  :  yet  for  all 
that  the  Irish  youth  learned,  and  learned  well,  and  held 
his  place  as  a  man  of  learning  in  afrer  life  in  those  Euro- 
pean courts  where  he  was  welcomed,  and  showed  himself 
not  only  loyal  to  the  foreign  power  under  which  he  took 
military  service,  but  also  of  no  ordinary  ability  as  a  com- 
mander and  a  strategist. 

At  a  time  when  O'ConnelUs  own  father  could  not  be 
lawfully  his  guardian,  it  can  be  a  matter  of  little  surprise 
that  he  learned  the  rudiments  of  education  from  an  ordinary 
pedagogue.* 

2  In  1703,  it  was  enacted  "  that  no  Catholic  could  be  guardian  to,  or 
have  the  custody  or  tuition  of  any  orphan  or  child  under  the  age  of  21 
yeaiN,  and  that  the  guardianship,  when  a  Catholic  was  entitled  to  it, 
should  be  disposed  of  by  the  Chancellor  to  the  nearest  Protestant  rela- 
tion of  the  child,  or  to  some  other  Protestant,  who  is  thereby  required 
to  use  his  utmost  care  to  educate  and  bring  up  such  child  in  the  Pro- 
testant religion.  Any  offence  against  this  act  was  punished  by  a  penalty 
of  £500."  The  act  permitting  Catholics  to  be  guardians  to  their  own 
children  was  not  passed  until  1782. 

Usher,  who  cannot  be  suspected  of  any  partiality  to  *  Papist3,"  has 
himself  given  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Gal  way,  where  he  found  John 
Lynch,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Killala,  teaching  a  school  of  humanity- 


116 


"A   SPOONFUL  OF  HONEY? 


Even  in  his  own  account  of  his  first  lesson  in  reading  we 
see  his  preference  for  the  "  spoonful  of  honey"3  suffici- 
ently manifested ;  and  though  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  his 
personal  experience  of  the  French  Revolution  had  a  power- 
ful effect  on  his  future  career,  and  made  him  tenaciously 
fearful  of  physical  force,  yet  his  natural  character  was 
gentle.  The  schoolmaster  won  his  affection  in  a  peculiar 
manner.  His  own  son,  John  O'Connell,  himself  one  of 
the  best  and  gentlest  of  men,  has  left  the  account  on 
record,  and  we  give  it  in  his  words. 

"  We  had  proofe,"  lie  says,  "  during  our  continuance  in  that  citie,  how 
his  schollars  profitted  under  him,  by  the  verses  and  orations  which  they 
brought  us."  Usher  then  relates  how  he  seriously  advised  the  young 
schoolmaster  to  conform  to  the  popular  religion ;  but,  as  Lynch  declined 
to  comply  with  his  wishes,  he  was  bound  over,  under  sureties  of  ,£400 
sterling,  to  "  forbear  teaching."  The  tree  of  knowledge  was,  in  truth, 
forbidden  fruit,  and  guarded  sedulously  by  the  fiery  sword  of  the  law. 

For  further  information  on  this  subject,  and  for  details  of  the  history 
of  Irishmen  who  distinguished  themselves  abroad  and  at  home  under 
penal  laws,  we  refer  the  reader  to  O'Callaghan's  "  History  of  the  Irish 
Brigade,"  and  to  our  "  Illustrated  History  of  Ireland." 

a  Mr  O'Neill  Daunt  says  in  his  "  Eeminiscences  " — "  On  one  occasion 

when  O'Connell  had  listened  to  for  a  long  time  with  great  suavity,  I 

Baid,  4  You  were  infinitely  more  civil  to  Mr  than  I  could  have  been.' 

"  '  My  dear  friend/  replied  he,  1  you  will  catch  more  flies  with  a  spoon- 
ful of  honey  than  with  a  hogshead  of  vinegar.' 

"  He  admits,  however,  that  he  could  show  symptoms  of  being  bored 
now  and  then. 

"  Some  of  the  habitues  of  the  Repeal  Association  who  knew  O'Oonneira 
feelings  on  such  matters,  have  whispered  to  me  during  the  speech  of  a 
long-winded  orator, '  Watch  Dan,  now  !  observe  how  bo-red  he  is — there 
he  sits  with  his  hat  pulled  down  over  his  eyes,  patiently  waiting  until 
this  gentleman  finishes.' " 


O'COXXELUS  FIRST  LESSON. 


37 


"  An  itinerant  schoolmaster  came  to  Carhen  one  day,  and  took 
the  little  fellow  on  his  knee.  He  then  took  out  a  pocket-comb 
and  combed  the  child's  hair  thoroughly  without  hurting  him,  as 
the  rough  country  maids  scarcely  ever  failed  to  do.  In  gratitude 
for  exemption  from  his  usual  torture,  the  child  readily  consented 
to  learn  his  letters  from  the  old  man;  and  in  the  short  space  of 
an  hour  and  a  half,  learned  the  whole  alphabet  perfectly  and  per- 
manently. 

"  The  moral  of  this  tale  is,  not  that  you  should  comb  children's 
heads  gently,  in  order  to  ensure  their  learning  quickly  ;  but  that 
the  difficulties  of  teaching  them  can  be  much  lightened  by  a  little 
care  to  conciliate  their  good- will  to  the  task." 

It  is  just  possible  that  the  brain  was  nervously  sensitive, 
as  is  frequently  the  case  in  children  of  more  than  ordinary 
capacity,  and  they  may  be  tried  to  the  very  verge  of 
endurance  by  ungentle  usage.  We  agree  with  Mr 
O'Connell  that  children  may  be  taught  the  alphabet  with- 
out u  combing  the  head  gently,"  but  it  is  worth  considering 
that  if  delicate  and  sensitive  children  were  treated  with 
more  consideration,  it  might  be  of  advantage  to  them  both 
morally  and  physically. 

O'Connell  was  then  nearly  four  years  old.  The  school- 
master's name  was  David  Mahoney. 

In  1787,  O'Connell  was  taken  to  the  Tralee  assizes 
and  witnessed  a  curious  exhibition  of  the  fashion  in  which 
justice  was  administered  in  those  days.  From  the  manner 
in  which  the  lower  orders  of  Irish  were  hunted  from  one 
place  to  another,  not  only  by  the  "  English  army,"  but 
even  by  their  own  lords,  whose  private  ieuds  were  neither 


38 


THE  "CRELAGHS; 


few  nor  far  between,  many  of  them  took  to  a  predatory 
life  from  necessity,  and  continued  it  from  desire.  A 
band  of  these  unfortunate  men,  who  were  called  Crelaghs* 
infested  the  mountains  of  Glencarra,  and  preyed  on  the 
cattle  in  Clare  and  Gal  way,  which  they  drove  away 
and  sold  daily  in  the  fairs  of  Kerry  ;  or  with  impartial 
rapacity  swept  off  the  stolen  beeves  of  Kerry  and  disposed 
of  them  retributively  in  Galway  and  Clare.  The  harassed 
farmers  regarded  these  u  Crelaghs  "  with  terror  and  loath- 
ing :  but  their  hatred  was  repressed  by  fear,  because 
the  Protestant  gentry  extended  to  the  freeboolers  a  kind 
of  negative  protection.  A  portion  of  the  spoil  which  the 
grateful  robbers  presented  to  the  sympathising  magistrates 
rewarded  this  profitable  connivance.  Emboldened  by  ai 
impunity  which,  having  purchased,  they  regarded  as  a  righ'  ■ 
the  robbers  stole  fourteen  cows  from  the  lands  of  Morgan 
O'Connell.  Exasperated  by  this  outrage,  the  father  of 
the  future  Liberator,  at  the  head  of  an  %rmed  party, 
penetrated  the  mountain  defiles  and  proceeded  to  storm 
the  haunt  of  the  banditti.  The  struggle  which  ensued 
was  of  a  very  desperate  and  even  sanguinary  char- 
acter, as  the  Crelaghs  offered  a  fierce  resistance,  in  the 
course  of  which  the  father  of  young  Daniel  wounded  one 
and  captured  two;  while  the  remainder  of  the  robbers 
broke  through  their  assailants  and  effected  their  escape,  to 
renew  in  another  part  of  the  country  the  depredations 
which  made  them  so  formidable  in  Glencarra. 


JUSTICE  IN  IRELAND. 


33 


One  evening,  as  Morgan  O'Connell  was  riding  home 
alone,  he  was  set  upon  by  these  desperadoes ;  determined 
to  revenge  on  his  friendless  head  the  injuries  which,  when 
surrounded  by  companions,  he  had  inflicted  on  them. 
Rushing  down  the  slope  of  a  mountain,  they  called  on  him 
with  threats  to  stop,  and  fired  on  him  as  he  continued  his 
course.  His  horse  at  this  moment,  terrified  by  the  dis- 
charge of  the  musket,  became  unmanageable,  and  he  was 
flung  heavily  to  the  ground.  While  thus  prostrate  he  was 
again  fired  at,  but  fortunately  without  effect.  Regaining 
his  feet,  he  succeeded  in  recovering  his  horse,  and  springing 
upon  its  back,  he  was  speedily  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
banditti,  who  pursued  aud  fired  at  him  as  he  fled. 

Some  time  subsequently  one  of  the  Crelaghs  was  con- 
victed of  horse-stealing  at  Tralee.  Leaning  on  the  bar,  he 
heard  the  sentence  of  death  with  a  degree  of  savage  apathy 
Which  astonished  every  spectator  in  the  court.  \l  Is  it 
listening  to  his  lordship  you  are,  you  stupid  gorneril  ?  " 
exclaimed  a  bystander,  with  unfeigned  amazement.  "  Don't 
you  see  it's  listening  I  am?"  replied  the  prisoner  angrily; 
u  but  fot  do  I  care  fot  he  says.  Is  not  Colonel  Bleuner- 
hasset  looking  at  me — isn't  he — all  the  time?  and  he  says 
nothing."  The  prisoner,  doubtless,  relied  on  the  presents 
which  he  had  given  the  colonel  for  an  entire  immunity 
from  the  penalty  of  crime.4    Even  the  judges  of  that  day 


4  Kerry  cows  were  the  victims  of  Kerry  feuds  from  an  early  period, 
but  especially  during  the  Desmond  war.    The  following  extract  firm  our 


40 


A  JUDGE  BRIBED. 


were  not  all  exempted  from  the  weakness  of  accepting  a 
bribe,  though,  for  the  credit  of  the  bench,  we  must  hope  • 
these  delinquents  were  the  rare  exception.  Denis  O'Brien, 
a  man  not  noted  for  obedience  to  law,  had  a  record  at 
Nenagh,  and  learning  that  the  judge  had  talked  of  pur- 
chasing a  set  of  carriage  horses,  Denis  sent  him  a  mag- 
nificent set.  The  judge  graciously  accepted  the  horses, 
praised  their  points  extravagantly,  and  then,  charging  the 
jury  in  favour  of  Denis,  obtained  a  verdict  for  him.  The 
moment  Denis  gained  his  point,  he  sent  in  a  bill  to  the 
judge  for  the  full  value  of  the  horses.  His  lordship  called 
Denis  aside  to  expostulate  privately  with  him.    "  Oh  !  Mr 


"  History  of  Kerry,"  recently  published,  will  show  how  justice  was 
administered  : — 

"  The  judges  went  circuit  twice  a  year,  except  in  the  county  Kerry, 
but  whether  the  county  was  exempted  from  judicial  visits  on  account 
of  the  general  propriety  of  the  inhabitants,  or  because  of  its  remoteness 
and  inaccessibleness,  is  by  no  means  evident.  Justice  was  administered 
with  tolerable  impartiality,  for,  amongst  the  earliest  Kerry  records  we 
can  find  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Sir  Thomas  Denny  was  fined 
and  bound  Ho  good  behaviour'  for  seven  years  towards  John  Darroe  :  his 
bails  were  John  Fitzmaurice  and  Rev.  Barry  Denny  ;  and  at  the  same 
assizes  Matthew  Boarman  and  Daniel  Sullivan  were  indicted,  for  that 
they,  19th  December,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  Majesty,  at  Tralee, 
did  assault,  beat,  batter,  and  whip  John  Darran.  Summer  assizes  were 
then  held,  and  in  the  same  year  David  Sullivan  was  released  from  cus- 
tody, wherein  he  had  been  detained  since  the  summer  assizes  of  1740, 
for  non-payment  of  a  fine  of  £15,  to  which  he  had  been  sentenced  for 
stealing  a  deer  from  the  park  of  the  Knight  of  Kerry.  In  1777  a  num- 
ber of  persons  were  sentenced,  and  a  man  was  actually  condemned  to  be 
hanged  for  stealing  '  one  Caroline  hat,  value  10s.,  and  one  wigg,  valua 
6s.  sterling.'" 


A   SCOTCH  BALLAD. 


41 


O'Brien.*'  said  he,  "  I  did  not  think  you  meant  to  charge 
me  for  those  horses.  Come  now.  my  dear  friend,  why 
should  I  pay  you  for  them?" — "  Upon  my  word,  that  is 
curious  talk,"  retorted  Denis,  in  a  tone  of  fierce  defiance, 
"I'd  like  to  knew  why  your  lordship  should  not  pay  me 
for  them?"  To  this  inquiry,  of  course,  a  reply  was  im- 
possible. The  judge  was  obliged  to  hold  his  peace  and  pay 
the  money. 

While  enjoying  the  amusements  of  the  county  town,  with 
keen  eye  seeing  and  sharp  ear  hearing  what  perhaps  was 
scarcely  noticed  by  others,  OX'onnell  listened  to  a  ballad 
which  made  an  indelible  impression  on  his  memory.  He 
related  the  circumstance  thus  to  Mr  O'Neill  Daunt  many 
years  afterwards — 

■  I  liked  ballads  above  all  things  when  I  was  a  boy,"  said 
O'ConnelL  "In  17^7  I  was  brought  to  the  Tralee  assizes. 
Iflim  were  then  a  great  mart  for  all  sorts  of  amusements— and 
I  was  greatly  taken  with  the  ballad-singers.  It  was  then  I  heard 
two  ballad-singers,  a  man  and  a  woman,  chanting  out  a  ballad, 
which  contained  a  verse  I  still  remember : 

'  I  leaned  my  back  against  an  oak, 
I  thought  it  was  a  trusty  tree, 
But  first  it  bent,  and  then  it  broke — 
'Twas  thus  my  love  deserted  me.' 1 

He  sang  the  first  two  lines—  she  sang  the  third  line,  both  together 
sang  the  fourth,  and  so  on  through  the  whole  ballad." 

•  This  is  a  verse  from  the  well-known  Scotch  ballad : — 

"  Oh  waly,  waly  up  the  bank, 

And  waly,  waly  doun  the  brae." 


42 


0' CO N NELL  IN  II IS  BOYHOOD. 


O'Connell  spent  much  of  his  time,  even  at  this  early 
period  of  his  life,  in  study.  When  his  playmates  were  en- 
gaged in  noisy  games,  he  would  sit  apart  absorbed  in  some 
book;  and  books  were  rare  enough  then  to  be  dearly  prized. 
The  "  Voyages  of  Captain  Cook"  specially  interested  him,  and 
he  would  sit  for  hours  poring  over  the  volume,  or  finding 
out  the  places  on  the  map.  He  had  also  a  great  fancy  for 
the  Dublin  Magazine,  which  was  taken  in  by  his  uncle. 
This  serial  contained  portraits  of  distinguished  personages, 
with  their  biographies,  and  even  then  some  vision  of  and 
aspiration  for  future  fame  must  have  entered  his  mind,  for 
he  used  to  say  to  himself,  "  I  wonder  will  my  portrait  ever 
appear  in  this."  Yet,  even  in  his  wildest  dreams,  how 
little  could  he  have  anticipated  his  magnificent  future.6 

On  one  occasion  when  the  family  were  eagerly  discuss- 
ing the  topics  of  the  day,  and  the  respective  merits  of  Burke 
and  Grattan,  O'Connell,  then  only  a  lad  of  nine  years  of 
age,  was  observed  sitting  in  an  arm-chair,  silent  and 

6  Speaking  of  liis  own  early  recollections,  O'Connell  said  :  "  My  uncle 
used  to  get  the  DuUin  Magazine  at  Carhen  ;  it  usually  contained  the 
portrait  of  some  remarkable  person,  with  a  biographical  notice.  I  was 
always  an  ambitious  fellow,  and  I  often  used  to  say  to  myself,  '  I  wonder 
will  my  visage  ever  appear  in  the  Dublin  Magazine,.''  I  knew  at  that 
time  of  no  greater  notoriety.  In  1810,  when  walking  through  the  streets 
Boon  after  some  meeting  at  which  I  had  attracted  public  notice,  I  saw  a 
magazine  in  a  shop-window,  containing  the  portrait  of  '  Councillor 
O'Connell/  and  I  said  to  myself  with  a  smile,  'Here  are  my  boyish 
dreams  of  glory  realised.'  Though  I  need  not  tell  you  that  in  1810,  I 
had  long  out-  jrown  that  species  of  ambition." — PwrsonoX  liecoll6Gtion$^ 
vol.  i.  p.  102. 


" I'LL  MAKE  A  STIR  IN  THE  WORLD."  43 


abstracted.  He  was  asked  by  a  lady,  who  wondered  at 
his  silence,  "What  he  was  thinking  of?"  His  reply  waa 
characteristic — 

"  I'll  make  a  stir  in  the  world  yet!" 

Father  0* Grady  was  then  the  chaplain  of  the  0' Council 
family,  and  prepared  the  boy  for  the  Sacraments.  A  curious 
anecdote  is  told  of  this  ecclesiastic.  He  resided  at  Lou- 
vain  during  the  wars  of  Marlborough,  and  from  the 
troubled  state  of  Flanders,  he  was  reduced  to  the  deepest 
distress.  He  begged  his  way  to  the  coast,  hoping  to  meet 
some  vessel  whose  captain  might  take  him  for  charity  to 
Ireland.  As  he  was  trudging  slowly  and  painfully  along, 
he  suddenly  fell  in  with  a  band  of  robbers.  One  of  the 
robbers  was  a  Kerryman,  named  Denis  Mahony,  who, 
moved  to  compassion  by  the  penniless  poverty  of  the  priest, 
and  charmed  with  the  sound  of  his  native  tongue,  gave 
him  out  of  his  own  share  of  plunder  the  means  of  returning 
to  Ireland.  "  God  be  merciful  to  poor  Denis  Mahony!" 
Father  0* Grady  was  accustomed  to  say,  when  relating  this 
adventure;  "I  found  him  a  useful  friend  in  need.  But 
lor  all  that  he  might  prove  a  very  disagreeable  neigh- 
bour." 

The  Liberator  in  after  years  accounted  for  the  appear- 
ance of  a  native  of  Kerry  among  a  gang  of  Flemish  rob- 
bers, by  supposing  that  he  had  served  in  Marlborough's 
army,  and,  deserting  from  ill-treatment,  sought  subsist- 
ence on  the  highway  as  a  footpad. 


&4 


ACQUITTAL  OF  A  POPISH  PRIEST. 


But  poor  Father  O'Grady  only  escaped  from  the  perils  of 
starvation  and  the  sea  to  run  the  risk  of  hanging  or 
imprisonment  at  home.  He  was  seized  on  his  return  to 
Ireland,  and  tried  on  the  charge  of  being  a  "  Popish 
priest."  A  witness  mounted  the  table  and  swore  he  had 
heard  him  "say"  Mass. 

"  Pray,  sir,"  said  the  judge,  "  how  do  you  know  he  said 
Mass?" 

"  I  heard  him  say  it,  my  lord,"  replied  the  witness. 

"  Did  he  say  it  in  Latin?"  inquired  his  lordship, 

"Yes,  my  lord." 

"  Then  you  understand  Latin?" 

"  A  little." 

"  What  words  did  you  hear  him  use?" 
"  Ave  Maria." 

"  That  is  part  of  the  Lord's  Prayer;  is  it  not?" 

"  Yes,  my  lord,"  was  the  fellow's  answer. 

"  Here  is  a  pretty  witness  to  convict  the  prisoner,"  cried 
the  judge;  "he  swears  that  Ave  Maria  is  Latin  for  the 
Lord's  Prayer."  As  the  judge  pronounced  a  favourable 
charge,  the  jury  acquitted  Father  O'Grady.7 

O'Connell  was  sent  to  school  in  Cork  by  his  uncle 
Maurice  at  the  age  of  thirteen.  This  school  was  the  first 
establishment  of  the  kind  which  had  been  opened  in  Ire- 

7  An  English  Protestant  writer  says  :  "  For  many  a  long  year,  Irish 

history  is  hut  a  melancholy  recital  of  religious  intolerance  and  party 
nndictiveness." — Ireland  under  British  Rule,  hy  Lieut.-Colonel  Jervis 


O'COXXELL'S  SCHOOL  LIFE. 


46 


land  since  the  Protestant  Reformation.  Mr  Fagin,  in  his 
Memoir  of  O'Connell,  says  that  he  did  not  exhibit  any 
extraordinary  intellect  at  this  period ;  and  as  his  own 
father  was  a  school-companion  of  the  Liberator,  he  had 
good  opportunity  for  correct  information.8 

O'C  nneli,  however,  considered  himself  to  have  been  a 
quick  child,  and  as  he  was  not  remarkable  for  modesty,  he 
had  no  hesitation  in  saying  so.  On  one  occasion,  when 
travelling  with  Mr  Daunt,  he  made  this  assertion  :  11  I 
was,  in  childhood,  remarkably  quick  and  persevering.  My 


RA..  M.P.,  London,  186S,  p.  208.  Again,  he  says  :  "  The  following  re- 
wards were  fixed  for  the  discovery  of  Popish  clergy  and  schoolmasters — 

M  For  an  archbishop,  bishop,  vicar-general,  or  any  other  person 

exercising  any  foreign  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,      .       .  £.30 
For  each  clergyman,  and  each  secular  clergyman,  not  regis- 
tered according  to  2  Anne,  c  vii  20 

For  a  schoolmaster  or  usher,  10 

— A:inet  c.  iii.,  Irish  Statutes. 

He  adds  :  "  To  limit  the  power  of  a  Papist  to  take  leases  for  more 
than  thirty-one  years  made  him  care  but  little  for  investing  in  laud 
till  death  gave  him  *a  Protestant  lease  of  the  sod.'  To  forbid  the 
education  of  Popish  children  by  Papists,  either  abroad  or  at  home, 
aecured  their  continuing  or  remaining  in  happy  ignorance,"  p.  215. 

s  *•  Daniel  0  Connell  was  early  sent  by  his  uncle,  Maurice,  by  whom 
he  was  adopted,  to  Mr  Harrington's  school,  in  the  great  island  of  Cove, 
near  Cork.  The  father  of  the  writer  was  a  school-fellow  of  his,  and  wo 
have  often  heard  him  say,  that  O'Connell  did  not  display  any  extraordi- 
nary precocity  of  intellect.  He  was,  like  Swift  and  Sheridan,  and  * 
thousand  others  who  afterwards  rose  to  eminence,  but  an  ordinary 
scholar." — Fajin's  Lift  of  O'Conndl. 

This  work  was  reprinted  from  the  very  type  used  for  its  original 
destination — a  newspaper. 


16 


O'CONNELL'S  COLLEGE  LIFE. 


childish  propensity  to  idleness  was  overcome  by  the  fear  of 
disgrace:  I  desired  to  excel,  and  could  not  brook  the  idea 
of  being  inferior  to  others.  One  day  I  was  idle,  and  my 
teacher  finding  me  imperfect  in  my  lesson,  threatened  to 
beat  me.  But  I  shrank  from  the  indignity,  exclaiming, — ■ 
4  Oh,  don't  beat  me  for  one  half  hour!  If  I  haven't  my 
lesson  by  that  time,  beat  me  then  ! '  The  teacher  granted 
me  the  reprieve,  and  the  lesson,  rather  a  difficult  one,  was 
thoroughly  learned." 

On  another  occasion  O'Connell  said  to  me,  "  I  was  the 
only  boy  who  wasn't  beaten  at  Harrington's  school;  lowed 
this  to  my  attention." 

In  1791  Maurice  O'Connell  sent  the  two  brothers  to 
Flanders,  intending  that  they  should  enter  the  famous 
Jesuit  college  at  Liege.  They  sailed  from  Ireland  in  a  brig 
bound  for  London.  The  captain  undertook  to  land  them 
at  Dover,  whence  they  were  to  take  the  packet  to  Ostend. 

The  tide  not  serving  when  they  arrived  at  their  destina- 
tion, they  were  landed  in  boats,  and  Mr  O'ConnelPs  first 
acquaintance  with  the  English  shore  was  made  as  he 
stumbled  on  the  beach  after  a  thorough  submersion  from 
a  capsized  boat. 

An  opportunity  offering  in  a  few  days,  the  party  pro- 
ceeded to  Ostend,  and  thence  by  diligence  to  Liege,  where, 
however,  a  disappointment  awaited  them.  Mr  O'Connell 
was  found  to  have  passed  the  age  when  boys  could  be 
admitted  as  students,  and  they  had  to  retrace  their  steps 


O'COXXELL  AT  DO  CAY. 


47 


as  far  as  Louvain,  there  to  await  new  instructions  from 
home. 

The  difference  of  disposition  between  the  two  boys  was 
here  strikingly  shown  :  Maurice,  the  younger,  naturally 
enough,  availed  himself  of  his  six  weeks'  unexpected  holi- 
days (the  interchange  of  communications  between  their  then 
abiding-place  and  the  remote  shores  of  Kerry,  requiring 
that  interval),  to  indulge  in  all  a  boy's  vacation  amuse- 
ments; while,  on  the  other  hand,  his  brother,  feeling  no 
relish  for  idleness,  attended  class  in  one  of  the  halls  at 
Louvain  as  a  volunteer,  and  with  such  assiduity,  that  ere 
the  arrival  of  letters  from  home,  for  which  they  were  wait- 
ing, he  had  risen  to  a  high  place  in  a  class  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  boys. 

Their  uncle's  new  orders  were,  that  they  should  go  to  St 
Oners  :  whither,  accordingly.,  they  proceeded,  and  remained 
a  year — viz.,  from  early  in  the  year  1791,  till  a  similar 
period  of  1792 — when  they  were  removed  to  the  English 
college  of  Douay  for  some  months.9 

An  anecdote  is  told  of  O'Connell's  journey,  which  shows, 
were  it  needed  to  show  it,  how  deeply  the  minds  of  Irish 
youth  were  impregnated  with  hatred  for  England,  or  rather 
with  hatred  for  English  rule.  It  would  be  well  if  those  who 
object  to  such  manifestations  of  feeling  would,  for  one 
moment,  put  themselves  in  the  place  of  these  expatriated 


8  Memoir  of  O'Ccrmell,  by  his  son,  vol.  i.  p.  7. 


■18 


0' CON  NELL  AND   THE  FRENCHMAN. 


fjoys,  aad  ask  themselves  how  they  would  have  felt  and 
acted  had  Ireland  been  master  of  England,  and  had  Irish 
law-makers  compelled  the  scions  of  England's  most  ancient 
houses  to  seek  education  in  foreign  lands,  because  it  was 
not  only  denied,  but  even  prohibited,  under  the  most 
terrible  penalties,  in  their  own  country.  If  such  considera- 
tions were  made  honestly,  we  think  Englishmen  would 
lose  nothing,  and  might  gain  a  great  deal.  There  is  no 
possible  advantage  to  be  gained  from  wilful  blindness  to 
facts.  We  have  heard  of  somewhat  similar  instances  in 
the  present  day. 

As  the  O'Connells  travelled  in  the  diligence,  a  young 
Frenchman  discovered,  or  supposed  he  had  discovered, 
their  nationality.  He  immediately  commenced  pouring  out 
the  most  violent  tirades  against  England.  O'Connell 
seemed  perfectly  satisfied;  and  the  Frenchman,  astonished 
at  his  apathy,  after  talking  a  long  time,  lost  patience  with 
the  young  traveller. 

"  Do  you  hear?  Do  you  understand  what  I  am  saying, 
sir?" 

u  Yes,  I  hear  you — I  comprehend  you  perfectly." 
"  And  yet  you  are  not  angry?" 
"  Not  in  the  least." 

"  How  can  you  so  tamely  bear  the  censures  I  pronounce 
against  your  country  ?  " 

"  Sir,  England  is  not  my  country.  Censure  her  as  much 
as  you  please — you  cannot  offend  me.    I  am  an  Irishman, 


THE  KERRY  PEASANTRY.  49 

and  my  countrymen  have  as  little  reason  to  lovre  England 
as  yours  ;  perhaps  less." 

There  is  ample  evidence  that  0' Council  distinguished 
himself  at  St  Omers.  He  took  the  first  place  there  in 
every  class,  probably  owing  to  his  proficiency  in  classical 
learning.  The  natives  of  Minister,  and  it  is  well  known  of 
Kerry  and  Cork  in  particular,  were  often  found  with  Latin 
primers  in  their  possession,  and  even  with  some  fair  know- 
ledge of  that  language,  at  the  very  time  that  education  was 
most  sternly  prohibited.1 

1  An  attendant  of  Rinuccini,  who  visited  Ireland  as  Papal  Legate,  in 
October  1645,  has  left  some  very  interesting  details  on  this  subject  in 
a  MS.  addressed  to  Count  Thomas  Rinuccini,  but  the  writer  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  Dean  of  Fernio.  He  gives  a  graphic  description  of 
their  arrival  at  Kenmare — "al  porto  di  Kilmar" — and  of  the  warm 
reception  they  met  from  the  poor,  and  their  courtesy — "  La  cortesia  di 
quei  poveri  popoli  dove  Mon>ignor  capitd,  fu  incomparabile."  lie  also 
says  :  "Gran  cosa,  nelle  montagne  e  luogbi  rozzi,  e  gente  povero  per  le 
devastazioni  fatte  dei  nemici  eretici,  trovai  pero  la  nobilta  della  S.  fede 
Catolica,  giache  auro  vi  fu  uomo,  o  donna,  o  ragazzo,  ancor  che  piccolo 
ehe  non  me  sapesse  recitar  il  Pater,  Ave,  Credo,  e  i  commandamenti, 
della  Santa  Chiesa."  "It  is  most  wonderful  that  in  this  wild  and 
mountainous  place,  and  a  people  so  impoverished  by  the  heretical 
enemy,  I  found,  nevertheless,  the  noble  influence  of  the  holy  Catholic 
faith  ;  for  there  was  not  a  man  or  woman,  or  a  child  however  young, 
who  could  not  repeat  the  Our  Father,  Hail  Mary,  Creed,  and  the  com- 
BLinds  of  Holy  Church."  We  believe  the  same  might  be  said  at  the 
present  day  of  this  part  of  Ireland.  It  is  still  as  poor,  and  the  people 
are  still  as  well  instructed  in  and  as  devoted  to  their  faith  now  as  in 
that  century. 

A  work  was  published  in  Florence,  in  1844,  entitled  "Nunziatura  in 
Wanda,"  di  Gio.  Battista  Rinuccini.  This  work,  which  throws  great 
light  upoa  the  history  of  the  period,  contains  a  part  of  the  Rinuccini 

D 


60  IMA  GIN  A  R  Y  "  HA  PP  Y  I G  NORA  NCR" 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  an  English  Protestant  writer  has 
recently  asserted  that  the  prohibition  of  education  in  Ire- 
land resulted  either  in  the  conformity  of  individuals  to 
the  state  religion  or  in  "  happy  ignorance."  But  this 
assertion,  like  many  another  made  by  those  who  are  utterly 
ignorant,  though,  perhaps,  not  always  wilfully  so,  of  the 
subject  on  which  they  write,  is  simply  false.  The  instances 
of  "  conformity  "  are  indeed  rare,  and  few  have  been  so  bold 
as  to  assert  that  these  "conformities"  were  conversions. 
The  "  happy  ignorance "  is  imaginary.  If  all  who  were 
educated  in  Catholic  continental  colleges  did  not  exhibit 
as  brilliant  manifestations  of  intellect  as  O'Connell,  it  was 
not  because  their  education  was  defective,  but  because 
intellectual  gifts  are  not  equally  distributed. 

Maurice  O'Connell  must  have  been  an  educated  man 
himself,  or  he  would  scarcely  have  been  so  desirous  of  pro- 
curing educational  advantages  for  his  nephews.  He  was 
by  no  means  content  with  sending  them  to  college,  at 
considerable  expense;  while  they  pursued  their  academic 
career,  he  took  care  to  inform  himself  of  their  progress ; 
and  the  following  letter  to  him  from  the  Rev.  Dr  Stapylton, 
the  President  of  St  Omers,  is  alike  creditable  to  the  boy# 


MS.  This  volume  also  contains,  in  the  original  Italian,  the  report 
presented  by  Rinuccini  to  the  Pope  on  his  return  from  Ireland.  Burke 
has  given  some  extracts  from  the  MS.  in  his  "  Hibernia  Domini cana," 
and  Carte  mentions  it  also  ;  but  otherwise  these  very  important  docu- 
ments appear  to  have  been  quite  overlooked. 


EARLY  PROMISE. 


51 


end  to  their  self-appointed  guardian.  It  is  dated  January 
1702  :-- 

"  You  desire  to  have  my  candid  opinion  respecting  your 
nephews  ;  and  you  very  properly  remark,  that  no  habit  can  be 
worse  than  that  the  instructors  of  youth  who  seek  to  gratify  the 
parents  of  those  under  their  care,  by  ascribing  to  them  talents  and 
qualities  which  they  do  not  really  possess.  You  add,  that,  being 
tn(y  ilk*  uncle  of  these  young  men,  you  can  afford  to  hear  the  real 
truth  respecting  their  abilities  or  deficiencies.  It  is  not  my  habit 
to  disguise  the  precise  truth,  in  reply  to  such  inquiries  as  yours. 
You  shall,  therefore,  have  my  opinion  with  perfect  candour. 

"  I  begin  with  the  younger — Maurice.  His  manner  and  de- 
meanour are  quite  satisfactory.  He  is  gentlemanly  in  his  conduct; 
and  much  loved  by  his  fellow-students.  He  is  not  deficient  in 
abilities  ;  but  he  is  idle,  and  fond  of  amusement.  I  do  not  think 
he  will  answer  for  any  laborious  profession  ;  but  I  will  answer  for 
it,  that  he  never  will  be  guilty  of  anything  discreditable.  At 
least,  such  is  my  firm  belief. 

4i  With  respect  to  the  elder,  Daniel,  I  have  but  one  sentence  to 
write  about  htm,  and  that  is,  that  I  never  was  so  much  mistaken 
in  my  life  as  I  shall  be,  unless  he  be  destined  to  make  a  remark- 
able figure  in  society." 

M  It  is  needless  to  say,"  observes  Mr  John  O  Connell,  11  that 
the  times  were  as  perilous  for  strangers,  as  for  natives,  especially 
Englith  strangers  ;  under  which  designation  the  unhappy  con- 
tinental custom  (now  at  last  beginning  to  be  altered),  of  classing 
natives  of  Ireland  abroad,  caused  Mr  O'Connell  and  his  brother 
to  be  included.  They  had  to  remain,  however,  at  Douay,  during 
several  weeks  of  the  Reign  of  Terror,  not  being  able  to  follow  the 
example  of  other  students  in  going  home,  owing  to  the  interruption 
and  delay  of  communications  from  Ireland.  During  this  later 
period  the  boys  were  several  times  insulted  by  the  soldiery  that 
passed  through  Douay,  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  seat  of  war 
on  the  northern  frontier.    On  an  eminence  just  outside  the  town 


&2 


A  FORTUNATE  ESCAPE. 


are  the  traces  of  a  Eoman  camp,  attributed  to  Caesar  ;  and  here 
thirty-six  thousand  troops,  the  great  majority  raw  boys,  were  for 
some  time  encamped,  rendering  residence  at  Douay  still  more 
dangerous  and  disagreeable.  'Little  aristocrats,'  'young  priests,' 
&c,  were  the  mildest  terms  in  which  the  unbridled  soldiery  saluted 
the  boys  wherever  they  met ;  and,  on  one  occasion,  the  soldiers, 
as  they  were  marched  through  the  town,  heaped  the  fiercest 
execrations  and  insults  upon  them." 

O'Neill  Daunt  says, — The  Bishop  of  Ardagh  told  me 
that  a  French  captain  of  artillery  said  to  him  shortly  after 
the  trois  jours  de  Juillet,  6  Some  of  us  imagined  that  your 
O'Connell  was  born  at  St  Omers.  Ah !  if  he  had  been  a 
native  of  our  country  we  should  have  made  him  king  of  the 
French.'" 

When  we  recollect  the  fate  of  many  French  kings, 
whether  reigning  by  legal  or  popular  right,  we  cannot  but 
observe  that  O'Connell  had  a  fortunate  escape: 

A  French  statesman  has  dared  to  face  the  scepticism  of 
the  age,  or  it  might  be  more  correct  to  say,  has  anticipated 
it,  by  writing  of  "  God  in  History."  It  is  not  fashionable  to 
attribute  much  influence  to  Providence ;  but  we  do  no+ 
profess  or  desire  to  follow  the  multitude :  we  would  there 
fore  suggest  that  a  most  merciful  Providence  permitted 
O'Conneli's  residence  in  France  while  that  unhappy  country 
was  being  purged  in  the  terrible  furnace  of  self-created 
incendiarism.  We  cannot  doubt  that  the  impression  made 
on  his  mind  by  what  he  saw,  and  still  more  by  what  he 
heard,  was  a  powerful  restraint  on  his  conduct  in  after  life 


"SEMPER  ET  UDIQUE  FIDEL  IS." 


53 


and  made  liim  dread  that  violent  kindling  of  the  passions 
which  so  surely  ends  in  diabolic  crimes. 

Note. — After  the  fall  of  Napoleon  in  1814-15,  and  the  restoration  of  the 
Bourbons,  in  the  person  of  Louis  XVIII.,  that  monarch,  as  so  much  at- 
tached to  the  old  recollections  of  his  dynasty,  was  not  unmindful  of  the 
Irish  Brigade.  Above  all,  he  could  not  forget  how.  in  1792,  he  himself 
conveyed  the  final  expression  of  the  gratitude  of  his  family  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  three  last  regiments  of  the  Brigade,  or  those  of  Dillon, 
Walsh,  and  Berwick,  with  a  "  drapeau  d'adieu,"  or  farewell  banner, 
emblematic  of  their  national  deserts,  and  accompanied  by  these  words — 

"Gentlemen, — We  acknowledge  the  inappreciable  services  that  France 
has  received  from  the  Irish  Brigade,  in  the  course  of  the  last  100  years  ; 
services  that  we  shall  never  forget,  though  under  an  impossibility  of 
requiting  them.  Receive  this  standard,  as  a  pledge  of  our  remembrance, 
a  monument  of  our  admiration,  and  of  our  respect ;  and,  in  future, 
generous  Irishmen,  this  shall  be  the  motto  of  your  spotless  flag — 

< 1692—1792/ 
'Semper  et  dbique  fidelis.'" 

The  banner  for  the  Brigade  represented  an  Irish  harp,  and  was  em- 
broidered with  shamrocks  and  fleurs-de-lis,  or  lilies.  In  1814,  the 
officers  of  the  Old  Irish  Brigade  in  France  requested  the  Duke  of  Fitz- 
James  to  present  them  to  the  king  ;  which  request  the  Duke,  after 
thanking  them  for  the  honour  thereby  done  him,  complied  with,  in 
these  few  words,  "  which  are  a  summary  of  the  Irish  character,  in  all 
its  chivalrous  sublimity  ■  says  my  French  authority — 

"Sire, — I  have  the  honour  of  presenting  to  your  Majesty  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  Old  Irish  Brigade.  These  gentlemen  only  ask  for  a  sword, 
and  the  privilege  of  dying  at  the  foot  of  the  throne." 

Louis,  however,  was  too  deeply  indebted  to  England  for  the  recovery  of 
his  crown,  to  do  anything  directly  opposed  to  the  wishes  of  her  govern- 
ment, and  it  particularly  pressed  upon  him,  through  Lord  Castlereagh,  that 
thers  should  be  no  restoration  of  an  Irish  Brigade  in  France.  "  This 
fact  is  certain,"  alleges  a  contemporary  in  1814,  "  and  very  uncommon 
exertions  must  have  been  used  to  procure  this  concession  from  Louis  ; 
because,  independent  of  the  general  claims  of  this  body  on  the  gratitude 
of  the  French  monarchy,  one  of  these  regiments  had  received  a  promise 


154 


THE  YOUNGEST  OF  TWENTY-TWO. 


from  the  present  king — that,  in  the  event  of  his  restoration,  the  regi- 
ment, for  its  fidelity,  should  be  promoted  to  the  rank  of  the  Guards  of 
the  King." 

I  have  now  only  to  conclude  with  notices  of  two  venerable  survivors, 
for  many  years,  of  the  gallant  corps  to  which  they  belonged — the  one,  an 
officer  of  equally  high  rank  and  merit — the  other,  the  last  who  died  on 
the  Continent.  1.  Of  the  former  survivor  of  the  old  Brigade,  who  was 
uncle  to  the  celebrated  Daniel  O'Connell,  this  memoir  from  a  member 
of  the  family,  is  given,  with  some  slight  alterations  and  compression  : — 
"General  Daniel  Count  O'Connell,  Knight  Grand  Cross  of  the  Order  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  Colonel  of  the  late  6th  Eegiment  of  the  Irish 
Brigade  in  the  British  service,  entered  the  French  army  at  the  age  of 
14,  in  the  year  1757,  as  second  Lieutenant  in  the  Eegiment  of  the  Irish 
Brigade,  commanded  by,  and  called  after,  the  Earl  of  Clare.  He  was 
the  youngest  of  twenty-two  children,  of  one  marriage,  and  was  born  in 
August  1473,  at  Darrynane,  in  the  County  of  Kerry,  the  residence  of  hi? 
father,  Daniel  O'Connell.  His  education  had,  at  that  early  period,  been 
confined  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages — a 
knowledge  which  he  preserved  to  the  latest  period  of  his  life — and  to  a 
familiar  acquaintance  with  the  elements  of  the  mathematics.  He  served 
his  first  campaign  during  the  Seven  Years'  War  in  Germany,  and  became 
respected  by  his  superior  officers,  from  his  strict  attention  to  all  his 
military  duties,  and  beloved  by  all  his  companions,  from  the  unaffected 
grace,  gaiety,  and  generosity  of  his  disposition.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
war,  instead  of  devoting  the  hours  of  peace  to  idleness  or  pleasure,  he 
dedicated  them,  with  the  closest  attention,  to  the  study  of  literature 
generally,  but  especially  to  that  of  the  branches  of  military  engineering, 
He  was  attached  to  the  Corps  du  Genie  in  its  early  formation,  and  soon 
became  known  to  be  one  of  the  most  scientific  of  the  military  engineers 
of  France.  He  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  and  capture  of  Port 
Mahon,  in  Minorca,  from  the  English,  in  the  year  1779,  being  at  that 
time  Major  in  the  Regiment  of  Royal  Swedes.  He  received  public 
thanks  for  his  services  on  that  occasion,  and  a  recommendation,  from 
the  Commander-in-Chief  to  the  Minister  of  War,  for  promotion.  That 
promotion  he  immediately  obtained,  and  served  at  the  siege  of  Gibraltai 
in  the  year  1782,  as  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  his  Regiment,  the  Royal 
Swedes,  but  attached  to  the  corps  of  engineers.  Everybody  remembers 
the  attack  made  by  the  floating  batteries  on  Gibralt  ar  on  the  13th 


THE  'OTHER'  LIEU  TEX  A  XT- COLONEL.  53 


September  1782,  and  the  glorious  and  triumphant  resistance  of  the 
English  garrison,  under  General  Elliott.  Lieutenant-Colonel  O'Connell 
was  one  of  the  three  engineers  to  whose  judgment  the  plan  of  attack  was 
submitted,  a  few  days  before  it  was  carried  into  effect.  He  gave  it,  as 
his  decided  opinion,  that  the  plan  would  not  be  successful.  The*  other 
two  engineers  were  of  a  contrary  opinion,  and  the  attack  took  place 
accordingly.  The  event  justified  his  judgment.  Upon  a  point  of 
honour  recognised  in  the  French  army,  he  claimed  a  right  to  share  the 
perils  of  an  attack,  which  was  resolved  upon  against  his  opinion.  When 
the  attempt  to  storm  Gibraltar  was  resolved  on,  it  became  necessary  to 
procure  a  considerable  number  of  marines,  to  act  on  board  the  floating 
batteries.  For  this  purpose,  the  French  infantry  was  drawn  up,  and 
being  informed  of  the  urgency  of  the  occasion,  a  call  was  made  for  volun- 
teers, amongst  the  rest,  of  course,  from  the  Royal  Swedes.  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  O'Connell's  regiment  was  paraded,  and  the  men  having  been 
informed  that  he  was  to  be  employed  on  the  service,  the  battalion  stepped 
forward  to  one  man,  declaring  their  intention  to  follow  their  Lieutenant- 
Colonel.  It  so  happened  that  the  senior  Lieutenant-Colonel,  the  Count 
De  Ferzen,  then  well  known  as  1  le  beau  Ferzen/  and  towards  whom 
it  was  more  than  suspected  that  Marie  Antoinette  entertained  feelings  of 
peculiar  preference,  had  arrived  from  Paris,  but  a  short  time  before,  to 
join  the  regiment,  which  since  his  appointment  he  had  scarcely  seen. 
Attributing  the  enthusiasm  of  the  men  to  his  appearance,  he  rode  up, 
and  assured  them,  that  he  would  be  proud  to  lead  them.  A  murmur  of 
disappointment  passed  along  the  line  ;  and,  at  length,  some  of  the  older 
soldiers  ventured  to  declare,  that  it  was  not  with  him  they  volunteered, 
but  with  the  other  Lieutenant-Colonel,  who  had  always  commanded,  and 
always  protected  them.  With  a  generosity  which  does  him  honour, 
Ferzen  immediately  declared,  that  he  would  not  attempt  to  deprive 
Colonel  O'Connell  of  the  honour  he  so  well  deserved ;  but  that,  in  making 
way  for  him,  he  would  say,  that  he  hoped,  when  the  regiment  knew  so 
much  of  him,  they  would  be  equally  ready  to  follow  him.  Colonel 
O'Connell  was  named  second  in  command  of  one  of  the  floating  batteries, 
and  this  battery  was  among  the  first  to  come  into  action.  He  had,  in  tha 
early  part  of  the  fight,  a  portion  of  his  ear  taken  off  by  a  ball  ;  about  the 
period  when  the  batteries  began  to  take  fire,  a  shell  from  the  English 
mortars  burst  close  to  his  feet,  and  severely  wounded  him  in  no  lesi 
than  nin i  places.    Although  almost  covered  with  wounds,  his  recovery 


£6 


MASTER  IN  ART  OF  DRILL. 


was  not  slow,  and,  being  placed  high  on  the  list  of  those  recommended 
&r  promotion,  he  was,  in  the  ensuing  year,  appointed  Colonel  comman- 
dant of  a  German  regiment  of  two  battalions  of  1000  men  each,  then  in 
the  French  service,  but  belonging  to  the  Prince  of  Salm-Salm.  The 
regiment,  when  Colonel  O'Connell  got  the  command,  was  in  the  most 
lamentable  state  of  disorganisation  and  indiscipline  ;  and  it  was  an- 
nounced to  him,  by  the  French  Minister  of  War,  that  cr*.e  reason  for 
giving  him  that  regiment  was  the  expectation,  that  he  would  remedy  all 
its  disorders.  Nor  was  that  expectation  disappointed.  There  was,  in 
1787,  a  grand  review  of  upwards  of  50,000  French  infantry  in  Alsace, 
and  it  was  admitted,  that  the  Regiment  of  Salm-Salm  was  the  regiment 
in  the  highest  state  of  discipline  in  the  whole  camp,  and  its  Colonel  re^ 
ceived  public  thanks  on  that  account.  He  was  soon  after  appointed  to 
the  high  and  responsible  office  of  Inspector-General  of  all  the  French 
Infantry,  and  he  attained  also  the  rank  of  General  Officer.  In  this 
capacity  he  was  intrusted  with  the  organisation  of  the  general  code 
of  military  discipline,  especially  as  relating  to  the  interior  regimental 
arrangements  ;  and  as  his  suggestions  and  book  of  regulations  were 
adopted  into  the  French  armies  after  the  Revolution,  and  imitated  by 
other  nations,  the  advantages  derived  from  them  are  still  felt  by  every 
army  in  Europe.  We  have  thus  traced  his  career  from  his  entrance  in 
the  French  service  as  a  second  Lieutenant.  From  that  rank,  unaided  by 
any  interest,  without  a  pation,  or  a  friend,  save  those  lie  attached  to 
himself  by  his  virtues,  he  rose  to  the  command  of  a  splendid  regiment, 
and  to  a  rank  but  little  below  the  highest  in  the  service  of  France  ;  and 
he  attained  that  station,  at  a  time  when  the  bigotry  of  the  Penal  Code 
precluded  him  from  holding  the  most  insignificant  commission  in  the 
British  army.  Still  more  brilliant  prospects  lay  before  him  ;  but  the 
French  Revolution,  overturning  thrones  and  altars,  obliterated  from  the 
recollection  the  fate  of  private  individuals,  in  the  absorbing  nature  of 
national  interests  which  that  mighty  movement  involved.  He  was,  it 
may  be  well  said,  stripped  of  his  fame  and  fortunes  by  that  Revolution ; 
but  he  might  have  retained  both  if  he  could  sacrifice  his  principles, 
because  both  Dumourier  and  Carnot  pressed  him,  more  than  once,  to 
accept  the  command  of  one  of  the  revolutionary  armies.  He  totally 
declined  any  such  command,  feeling  it  a  duty  to  remain  near  the  person 
of  Louis  XVL,  and  to  share,  as  he  did,  some  of  his  greatest  perils  in  the 
days  of  tumult  and  anarchy,  until  that  ill-fated,  but  weU-meaning, 


THANKS  OF  PITT 


57 


monarch  was  hurled  from  his  throne,  and  cast  into  prison.  Unable  any 
longer  to  serve  the  Bourbon  cause  in  France.  General  O'Connell  joined 
the  French  Princes  at  Coblentz,  and  made  the  disastrous  campaign  of 
1792.  under  the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  as  Colonel  of  the  Hu-sars  do 
Berchinv.  In  1703,  General  O'Connell  was,  on  his  return  to  his  family 
in  Kerry,  detained  in  London,  with  other  French  officers,  by  the  British 
Government,  to  lay  and  digest  plans  for  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbon 
family.  Upon  this  occasion,  he  sent  in  apian  for  the  campaign  of  1791, 
which  attracted  so  much  attention,  that  Mr  Pitt  desired  an  interview, 
and  received  with  thanks  many  elucidations  of  the  plan."  Soon  after, 
the  Ministry,  having  determined  to  form  an  Irish  Brigade  of  six  regi- 
ments in  the  British  service,  "  this  determination  was  carried  into  effect, 
and  one  of  those  regiments  was  placed  under  the  command  of  General 
O'Connell.  It  w.is  stipulated  that  the  Colonels  should  not  be  raised  to 
the  rank  of  Generals  in  the  British  service,  but  should  receive  full  pay 
for  life.*  General  O'Connell,  during  the  peace  of  1S02,  returned  to 
France,  to  look  after  a  large  property,  to  which  his  lady  was  entitled  ; 
he  became  a  victim  of  the  seizure  of  British  subjects  by  the  then  First 
Consul  ;  and  remained  a  prisoner  in  France  until  the  downfall  of 
Napoleon,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons.  That  event  restored 
him  to  his  military  rank  in  France  ;  and  he  enjoyed,  in  the  decline  of 
life,  amidst  the  atFectionate  respect  of  his  relations  and  friends,  the 
advantage  of  full  pay,  as  General  in  the  service  of  France,  and  Colonel 
in  the  service  of  Great  Britain— an  advantage  which  circumstances  can, 
perhaps,  never  again  produce  for  any  man  ;  but  which  he  enjoyed  with 
the  lull  knowledge  and  approbation  of  both  powers.  During  the  peace 
of  1814,  General  O'Connell  met  Marshal  Ney  at  dinner,  at  the  house  of 
one  of  the  then  Ministry.  A  good  deal  of  conversation  passed  between 
them,  and  at  length  Ney  stated,  that  he  had  known  General  O'Connell 
before  the  Revolution,  and  mentioned  in  particular  having  frequently 
seen  him  in  the  year  1787.  "  My  memory,"  replied  the  General,  "  is 
particularly  good  ;  I  have  seen  few  officers  whom  I  do  not  recollect,  and 
I  do  not  think  I  could  have  seen  a  person  so  likely  to  be  remarkable  aa 
Marshal  Ney,  without  recollecting  him."  "General,"  returned  Ney, 
"you  could  not  have  remarked  me  ;  you  then  commanded  the  regiment 
of  Salm-Salm  ;  I  was  a  corporal  of  hussars  ;  our  Colonel  and  you  were 
fast  friends,  and  frequently  exchanged  guards  ;  and  I  have  often,  as 
corporal,  posted  and  relieved  the  hussar  sentinel  on  your  tent,  while  one 


68 


CHRISTIAN  AND  PATRIOT. 


of  your  corporals  was  going  through  the  same  duty  at  my  Colonel's." 
The  Revolution  of  1830  deprived  him,  however,  of  his  pay  as  French 
General.  He  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  Louis  Philippe,  and 
was,  of  course,  destituted.  He  retired  to  the  country  seat  of  his  son-in- 
law,  at  Maclon,  near  Blois — a  beauteous  spot  on  the  Loire,  which  he 
had  himself  ornamented  in  the  most  exquisite  style  of  English  planting 
— and  there,  in  his  declining  health,  he  waited  with  resignation  the  call 
of  his  God,  which  occurred  on  the  9th  of  July,  1833,  he  having  then 
nearly  completed  his  90th  year,  and  being  the  oldest  Colonel  in  the 
English  service.  "  He  had  never,  in  the  season  of  his  prosperity,  for- 
gotten his  country,  or  his  God.  Loving  that  country,  with  the  strongest 
affection,  he  retained,  to  the  last,  the  full  use  of  her  native  language  ; 
and,  although  master  of  the  Spanish,  Italian,  German,  Greek,  and  Latin, 
as  well  as  French  and  English  languages,  it  was,  to  him,  a  source  of  the 
greatest  delight,  to  find  any  person  capable  of  conversing  with  him  in 
the  pure  Gaelic  of  his  native  mountains.  There  never  lived  a  more 
sincere  friend — a  more  generous  man.  His  charities  were  multiplied 
and  continuous  ;  and  it  was  the  surprise  of  all  who  knew  him,  how  ha 
could  afford  to  do  all  the  good  he  did  to  his  kind.  He  was,  all  his  life, 
a  practical  Catholic,  and  had  the  comfort  of  dying,  without  a  pang, 
amidst  all  the  sacred  and  sweet  consolations  of  that  religion,  which  he 
had  not  forgotten  in  his  youth,  and  which  did  not  abandon  him  in  tha 
days  of  darkness  and  death. — Requuscat  in  pace" 


(fjapttr  Bttnito. 


EARLY  DAYS  AXD  FIUST  IMPRESSIONS. 
1 7  90- 1 800. 

FHZ  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  AND  THE  IRISH  REBELLION  COMPARED — LOUIS  XIV, 
AND  GEORGE  III. — ENGLISH  OPINIONS  ON  IRISH  POLICY — LOUIS  XVI. — THH 
TWO  SHEARES — ST  OMERS — o'CONNKLL  AND  THE  PRIESTHOOD — HIS  OPINIONS 
OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION — INTERVIEW  WITH  ROBERT  OWEN — AT  LIN- 
COLN'S INN  ORIGIN  OF  CONSTITUTIONALISM — CATHOLIC  CHURCH  CONSER- 
VATIVE— THE  ENGLISH  AND  IRISH  CATHOLICS  CONTRASTED — EARLY  TORYISM 
— HARDY'S  TRIAL — HORNE  TOOKE— THE  GEORGES  AND  THE  STUARTS — RISB 
OF  DEMOCRACY— AMERICAN  WAR — BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN — THE  IRISH  Ltt 
AMR  RICA. 


*QruT  has  been  more  than  once 
suggested  that  tlie  Irish  Re- 
P  bell  ion  of  179S  was  inspired 
<pb  bv    the    French  Revoluiion, 
which   synchronised  with  it. 
That  some  of  the  leaders  of  revolt  in 
Ireland  did  look  to  France  for  assist- 
ance is  a  matter  of  history  ;  but  no  two 
public  events  could  have  been  more  dissimilar  in 
cause  and  in  effect  than  the  Irish  Rebellion  and 
the  French  Revolution. 

In  Ireland  the  people  rebelled  against  the  re- 
lentless persecutors  of  their  faith ;  in  France,  the 
nation  trampled  on  and  defiled  even  the  very 
symbols  of  their  religion.  In  Ireland,  the  out- 
rages which  were  committed  bv  the  rebels,  how- 


62  CLOSE  TO   TEE  "  TARPEIAN  ROCK." 


ever,  would  have  been  considered  simply  as  unjustifiable 
reprisals  for  atrocities  which  cannot  be  denied,  and  which 
cannot  be  excused,  had  the  perpetrators  not  been  Irish.  The 
French  Revolution  was  a  revolt  against  all  authority  ;  the 
Irish  Rebellion  was  the  cry  of  the  oppressed  against  the  op- 
pressor, the  cry  of  the  enslaved  for  freedom,  the  effort  which 
must  be  made  sooner  or  later,  with  failure  or  with  success, 
as  God  wills,  for  those  who  have  suffered  long  and  unjustly. 

In  France,  the  first  assembling  of  the  tiers  Stat  looked 
like  a  pledge  of  national  restoration  and  national  freedom; 
but  France  had  no  definite  aim,  though,  in  truth,  its  wants 
were  many,  and  France  had  no  master  mind  to  explain  or 
rather  to  comprehend  its  needs.  Mirabeau,  indeed,  had 
foretold  its  future  with  the  prophetic  utterance  of  keen 
worldly  wisdom  and  acute  self-interest :  "  There  is  but 
one  step  from  the  Capitol  to  the  Tarpeian  Rock."  It  was 
true.  But  unhappily  the  few  who  strove  to  find  a  place 
in  its  Capitol  also  sought  to  govern,  and  failing,  were 
dashed  to  ruin  down  the  steep  precipice  of  popular  odium ; 
there  were  thousands  who  never  sought  to  rule,  who  only 
desired  to  be  ruled  justly,  and  yet,  for  them  also,  the  end 
was  death  and  agony. 

If  the  leaders  of  the  French  Revolution  steeped  their 
unhappy  country  and  their  own  souls  in  crime  and  misery, 
they  were,  at  least,  men  with  a  policy,  with  a  policy  of 
cruelty  like  Robespierre,  with  a  policy  of  selfishness  like 
Dan  ton  ;  but  in  Ireland  there  was  not  a  single  man  with  a 


THE  VOX  POPULI. 


63 


policy.  Yet  the  leaders  of  Irish  revolt  were  undoubtedly 
men  who  sacrificed  their  own  interests  to  the  popular  cause. 

There  were  exceptions,  but  they  were  exceptions,  and 
only  proved  the  rule.  In  all  revolutions  there  never  was 
ft  knight,  so  pure  and  without  reproach,  so  single-minded 
in  his  purpose,  so  disinterested  in  his  efforts,  as  the 
young  scion  of  the  lordly  house  of  Fitzgerald,  the  young 
noble,  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche,  the  victim  of  the  traitor, 
who  died,  loving,  not  wisely,  but  all  too  well  the  unhappy 
land  to  which  he  belonged  by  right  of  consignment  rather 
than  bv  right  of  nativity. 

The  only  strict  parallel  between  the  state  of  France 
and  the  state  of  Ireland  at  the  clo<e  of  the  last  century  can 
be  found  in  the  condition  of  the  people.  The  leaders  of  the 
French  Revolution  would  not  have  succeeded  unless  they 
had  been  supported  by  the  people.  We  are  far  from  de- 
siring to  maintain  the  vox  populi  vox  Dei  principle.  The 
voice  of  the  people  is  not  always  divine,  but  the  voice  of 
the  people  should  at  least  meet  with  a  patient  hearing  from 
those  who  govern  the  people. 

Jf  the  voice  of  the  people  had  been  heard  either  in  France 
or  in  Ireland,  or  rather  if  the  voice  of  the  people  had  been 
listened  to  patiently,  and  if  men  who  professed  themselves 
able  ta  guide  and  govern  the  people  had  taken  some  little 
pains  to  understand  that  voice,  a  h)  )ody  chapter  of  Euro- 
pean history  might  have  remained  unwritten. 

In  France,  a  certain  stereotyped  nobility  was  neces- 


64 


WITHOUT  A  KING. 


siary  for  personal  or  professional  advancement.  In  Ireland 
that  advancement  depended  on  the  profession  of  a  certain 
religions  belief.    The  results  were  almost  the  same. 

In  France,  the  peasantry  were  sold  like  cattle  with  the 
soil;  in  Ireland,  they  were  legally  transferred. 

In  France,  the  old  ties  of  feudal  affection,  if  such,  affec- 
tion had  ever  existed,  which  we  very  much  doubt,  were 
shattered  by  ever  increasing  exactions ;  in  Ireland,  where 
such  affection  had  existed,  it  was  weakened  past  recal  by 
indifference  and  tyrannical  bondage  of  opinion. 

In  Ireland,  the  people  knew  no  king.  The  king  of  Eng- 
land was  indeed  nominally  their  monarch,  but  he  was  not 
the  monarch  of  their  affections.  He  was  the  grim,  stern, 
and  alas  !  vindictive  lawgiver.  He  was  the  power  from 
whence  emanated  the  decrees  of  life  and  death  ;  from  whom 
they  were  compelled  to  receive  a  religion  of  which  they 
knew  nothing,  except  that  it  was  not  the  religion  of  their 
fathers,  and  laws  which  seemed  to  have  been  passed  only 
that  they  might  live  to  provide  abundance  for  their  legis- 
lators while  they  themselves  were  starving.2 

2  Again,  I  would  give  English  opinion  on  the  subject  of  English 
policy.  No  Irish  writer  has  ever  spoken  half  as  severely  on  thia 
subject  as  an  English  statesman.  In  1793,  Charles  James  Foi 
writes  thus  of  English  foreign  policy  :  "  Our  conduct  to  them  [the 
Americans]  as  well  as  to  the  Danes,  Swedes,  Duke  of  Tuscany,  and 
others  who  wished  to  be  neutral,  has  been  insufferable,  both  for  arro- 
gance and  injustice." — Memorial  and  Correspondence  of  Charles  Janus 
Fox,  vol.  iii.,  p.  47. 

"  For  many  a  long  year,  the  history  of  Ireland  is  but  a  melanchol/ 


WHOLESALE  CONFISCATION. 


65 


If  Lonis  the  Fourteenth  of  France  alienated  the  affec- 
tions of  his  people  by  his  indifference,  George  the  Third 
of  England  was  practically  unknown  to  his  Irish  subjects. 
Yet  terrible  as  were  the  wrongs  of  Ireland,  and  oppressed 
as  they  were  by  years  of  injustice,  we  believe  few  will 
say  that  the  most  exasperated  Irish  rebel  would  have 
imbrued  his  hands  in  the  blood  of  his  king. 

There  was  indeed  one  part  of  France  which  was  exempted 
from  the  crimes,  though  not  from  the  sufferings  of  the 
Revolution.  A  brief  glance  at  the  causes  which  exempted 
it  may  be  useful  to  our  future ;  and  it  is  surely  instructive. 
The  luxuries  of  the  capital  had  not  penetrated  into  the 
Vendean  provinces,  and,  what  was  almost  the  inevitable 

recital  of  religious  intolerance  and  party  vindictiveness.  "William 
sanctioned  the  outlawry  of  three  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty 
followers  of  King  James  in  Ireland,  at  a  time  when  but  fifty-four 
people  in  England  suffered  for  the  same  offence  ;  and,  taking  advantage 
of  the  consequent  forfeitures  of  land,  which  amounted  to  1,000.792 
acres,  he  lavishly  distributed  them  amongst  his  immediate  friends.  This 
act  was  too  gross  not  to  attract  attention  ;  and  the  English  Parliament, 
in  1G99,  appointed  commissioners  to  inquire  into  the  matter.  The 
following  year,  they  reported  to  the  House  that  Elizabeth  Yiiliers. 
Countess  of  Orkney,  had  obtained  97,049  acres  ;  Keppel,  created  Lord 
Albemarle,  108,000  ;  Ginckle,  Baron  of  Aughrim  and  Earl  of  Athlone, 
28,4S0  :  Henri  de  Massue,  Marquis  de  Rouvigny,  created  Earl  of  Gal- 
way,  30.1 18  acres  ;  Bentinck,  Earl  of  Portland  and  Lord  Woodstock, 
135,000.  In  consequence  of  this  report  a  Bill  of  Assumption  was  intro- 
duced into  the  English  Parliament,  and  passed,  muck  to  the  discomfiture 
ot  William  ;  and  it  is  worthy  of  observation  that  a  clause  was  inserted 
in  this  Act  especially  protecting  such  of  the  Irish  as  had  re-obtained 
estates  in  accordance  with  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  although  it  was  stated 
by  the  commissioners  that  many  of  these  restitutions  had  been  corruptly 

M 


63  YEN  BE  AN  AND  IRISH  PEASANTRY. 


consequence,  the  relationships  between  the  governed  and 
the  governing  classes  were  based  on  principles  of  justice. 
The  proprietors  were  resident.  "  They  were  constantly 
engaged  in  connections  either  of  mutual  interest,  or  of 
kindly  feeling  with  those  who  cultivated  their  lands." 
They  sympathised  with  the  people  when  they  wept,  they 
rejoiced  with  them  when  they  rejoiced.  Thus,  when  the 
peasantry  elsewhere  in  France  rose  up  against  their  land- 
lords, those  of  La  Vendee  died  in  defending  theirs. 

In  Ireland  in  the  far  south,  in  the  yet  farther  west,  there 
were  a  few  such  landlords,  and  as  a  necessary  consequence 
a  few  such  faithful  followers ;  but  for  them  the  antagonism 
was  bitter,  and  the  result  misery  to  both  oppressor  and 
oppressed. 


procured.  The  Irish  Parliament,  however,  was  not  so  impartial. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  dispirited  condition  of  the  Eoman  Catholics,  it 
enacted  statutes  against  them  from  time  to  time,  as  insulting  as  they 
were  oppressive.  Any  lands,  tenements,  or  hereditaments,  of  which  any 
Protestant  was,  or  should  be,  seized  in  fee -simple,  absolute,  or  fee-tail, 
which  by  the  death  of  such  Protestant  or  his  wife  ought  to  have 
descended  to  his  son,  or  other  issue  in  tail,  being  Papists,  were  to 
descend  to  the  nearest  Protestant  relation,  as  if  the  Popish  heir  and 
other  Popish  relatives  were  dead.  The  small  remnant  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  gentry  mustered  courage  enough  to  demand  to  be  heard  by 
counsel  against  the  provisions  of  the  Act,  which  privilege  being  granted 
to  them,  we  find  the  curious  picture  of  Papist  counsel  quoting  Scripture 
and  the  right  of  common  law  at  the  bar  of  a  Protestant  Parliament,  to 
urge  upon  it  the  necessity  of  observing  solemn  treaties,  and  of  not  pass- 
ing enactments  which  would  have  disgraced  a  pagan  state." — Ireland 
under  British  Rule.  By  Lieut.-Col.  Jervis,  R  A.,  M.P.  London,  1868, 
pp.  210-215. 


A  DISTIXCTIOX  WITH  A  D1FF1-REXCE.  67 


It  was  an  axiom  of  Sally's  that  the  people  never  revolt 
from  fickleness  or  the  mere  desire  of  change.  One  of  the 
most  eminent  of  English  historians  has  approved  this 
maxim,  bat  with  a  necessary  qualification,*  and  he  might 
have  added  that  the  intensity  of  the  result  would  be  gene- 
rally proportional  to  the  intensity  of  the  cause. 

Burke  described  the  state  of  France  as  "  perfectly  simple." 
M  It  consists,"  he  said,  "  of  but  two  classes,  the  oppressors 
and  the  oppressed  ;  and  if  the  oppressed  became  in  turn  the 
most  cruel  of  oppressors,  it  was  because  the  first  oppressors 
had  made  the  priests  and  the  people  formally  abjure  the  Divi- 
nity, and  had  estranged  them  from  every  civil,  moral,  and 
social,  or  even  natural  and  instinctive  sentiment,  habit,  and 
practice,  and  had  rendered  them  systematically  savages." 

It  was  principally  this  formal  "  abjuration  of  the  Divinity" 
which  made  the  most  striking  difTerence  between  the  con- 
duct of  the  French  and  Irish  revolutionists,  and  it  is  not 
a  little  remarkable,  that  the  men  who  were  most  earnest  in 
their  efforts  to  procure  French  assistance  for  Ireland,  were. 
I  will  not  say  Protestants,  though  they  were  nominally 
inch,  but  rather  infidels. 

When  Daniel  and  Maurice  O'Connell  sailed  from  France, 

1  "  Subsequent  events  have  not  falsified  the  maxim  of  Sully,  though 
they  have  shown  that  it  requires  modification.  The  observation,  more- 
over, is  true  only  in  reference  to  the  circumstances  of  revolutionary 
troubles.  The  people  over  a  whole  country  never  pass  from  a  state  oi 
quiescence  to  one  of  trouble  without  the  experience  of  practical  griev- 
ances. "—Alison's  Eiiiorxj  of  Europe,  vol.  i.  p.  03. 


DEATH  OF  LOUIS  XVI. 


the  two  STieares  were  their  fellow-travellers.  It  was  the 
same  packet-boat  which  brought  over  the  intelligence  that 
the  unfortunate  Louis  had  died  like  a  king,  if  he  had  not 
lived  4  like  one. 

The  murder  of  the  king  was  necessarily  the  one  subject  of 
conversation.  The  Sheares  were  communicative.  They  had 
been  in  Paris  at  the  time,  and  they  loudly  proclaimed  their 
approval  of  the  popular  fury.  An  English  gentleman  con- 
tinued the  subject,  and  at  last,  the  brothers  boasted  that  they 
had  actually  been  present  when  the  deed  of  blood  was  done. 

4  Perhaps  the  one  only  seene  in  the  life  of  this  unhappy  monarch  io 
which  he  showed  anything  like  kingly  dignity,  was  that  which  occurred 
on  the  20th  of  June  1792.  Sansterre  and  the  Marquis  de  Huen  had 
burst  into  the  royal  presence  at  the  head  of  an  infuriated  mob.  The 
men  shouted  "  Ca  ira,"  and  amongst  other  banners  of  a  horrible  and 
blasphemous  character,  they  bore  one  with  the  words,  "  The  Constitution 
or  Death  !  "  while  one  demon  incarnate  carried  a  bloody  calf's  heart  on 
the  point  of  his  pike,  with  the  inscription  round  it,  "  The  heart  of  an 
aristocrat."  Louis  was  placed  on  a  chair,  which  had  been  raised  on  a 
table,  by  a  few  of  his  faithful  attendants,  while  the  mob  raged,  howling 
and  dancing  through  the  palace.  He  alone  remained  unmoved.  A 
drunken  workman  handed  him  the  red  cap  of  liberty,  fit  emblem  of  the 
only  liberty  it  allowed — the  liberty  to  die,  or  blaspheme  God.  The  king 
placed  it  on  his  head,  and  wore  it  for  three  hours.  Had  he  hesitated  fof 
a  moment,  he  would  have  been  stabbed  to  death.  His  heroic  demean* 
our,  when  drinking  a  glass  of  water,  which  he  had  every  reason  to 
believe  had  been  poisoned,  excited  the  applause  even  of  the  friends  who 
watched  him.  When  at  length  a  deputation  of  the  Assembly  arrived, 
headed  by  Vergniaud  and  Isnard,  they  found  the  king  "  unshaken  in 
courage,  though  nearly  exhausted  by  fatigue."  One  of  the  National 
Guard  approached  him  to  assure  him  of  his  devotion.  "  Feel,"  he  replied, 
laying  his  hand  on  his  bosom,  "  whether  this  is  the  beating  of  a  heart 
agitated  by  fear." — Alison,  vol.  ii.  p.  39. 


"LOVE  OF  TEE  CAUSE,  SIR." 


69 


"  Good  heavens  !  sir,"  exclaimed  their  horrified  ques- 
tioner, "  what  could  have  induced  you  to  witness  so  horrible 
a  spectacle !  " 

"  Love  of  the  cause,  sir,"  was  the  prompt  reply;  and,  in  ■ 
truth,  many  of  the  patriots  who  led  or  aided  in  the  Irish 
Rebellion  of  1798,  were  men  like  the  Sheares,  who  had  no 
personal  or  relative  wrongs  to  redress,  but  who  were  im- 
pregnated with  the  revolutionary  spirit  of  the  day,  and 
found  in  Ireland  the  field  for  action  which  their  restless 
spirits  desired.6 

•  The  Sheares  were  natives  of  Cork,  whither  the  younger  proceeded 
in  May  1798,  lor  the  purpose  of  organising  that  county.  An  energetic 
co-operator  in  this  movement  was  a  silversmith  named  Conway,  a  native 
of  Dublin.  The  treachery  of  this  man  was  ?o  artfully  concealed,  that 
his  most  intimate  friends  never  suspected  him. 

"  If  those  who  join  secret  societies,"  writes  a  Cork  correspondent, 
u  could  get  a  peep  at  the  records  of  patriotic  perfidy  kept  in  the  Castle, 
they  would  get  some  insight  into  the  dangerous  consecpaences  of  meddling 
with  them.  There  is  a  proverbial  honour  amongst  thieves  ;  there  seems 
to  be  none  amongst  traitors.  The  publication  of  the  official  correspond- 
ence about  the  end  of  the  last  century  made  some  strange  revelations.  In 
Cork,  there  lived  a  watchmaker,  named  Conway,  one  of  the  directory  of 
the  United  Irishmen  there.  So  public  and  open  a  professor  of  disloyal 
sentiments  was  he,  that  on  the  plates  of  his  watches  he  had  engraved  as 
a  device  a  harp  without  a  crown.  For  a  whole  generation  this  man's 
name  was  preserved  as  '  a  sufferer  for  his  country,'  like  his  ill-fated 
townsmen,  John  and  Henry  Sheares.  The  1  Cornwallis  Correspond- 
ence' (vol.  iii.  p.  85)  reveals  the  fact  that  Conway  was  a  double-dyed 
traitor  ;  that  he  had  offered  to  become  a  secret  agent  for  detecting  the 
leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen,  and  that  the  information  he  gave  was 
very  valuible,  particularly  as  confirming  that  received  from  a  solicitor 
in  Belfast,  who,  whilst  acting  as  agent  and  solicitor  to  the  disaffected 
party,  was  betraying  their  secrets  to  the  executive,  and  earning,  in  hu 


70 


AN  OMEN  OF  SUCCESS. 


The  Sheaves  were  so  exultant  and  certain  of  success 
that  they  took  little  pains  to  conceal  their  project;  a 
curious  example  of  the  fatuity  of  those  engaged  in  the 
"  secret  society,"  which  they  were  so  desirous  of  pro- 
moting. The  very  quickness  of  the  passage  was  made  a 
subject  of  remark,  and  taken  as  omen  of  success,  for  they 
had  been  twice  wrecked  on  previous  voyages,  once  when 
crossing  to  France,  and  once  when  crossing  between 
Dublin  and  Parkgate. 

But  if  O'Oonnell  was  a  pacificator  in  public  life,  it  would 
appear  that  in  his  youth  he  had  no  objection  to  settle  private 
feuds  vi  et  armis.  Some  schoolboy  quarrel  arose  at  St  Omers, 
and  he  had  recourse  to  something  stronger  than  moral  force 
in  the  assertion  of  his  rights.  His  fellow-student  was  not 
accustomed  to  pugilistic  encounters,  and  said  so.  O'Con- 
nell  inquired  what  he  wished  to  fight  with.  "  The  sword, 
or  pistols,"  replied  the  young  Frenchman.    "  Then  wait  a 

vile  role  of  informer,  a  pension,  from  1799  to  1804,  of  £150,  and  the  sum 
of  ,£1460.  the  wages  he  received  for  his  services." 

The  Sheares,  though  nominally  Protestants,  were  tinged  with 
deistical  ideas.  "  I  heard  it  stated,"  observed  Mr  Patten,  "that  whe?j 
the  hangman  was  in  the  act  of  adjusting  the  noose  round  the  neck  oi 
John  Sheares,  before  proceeding  to  the  scaffold,  he  exclaimed,  '  D — u 
you,  do  you  want  to  kill  me  before  my  time  V  I  could  not  credit  it,  and 
asked  the  Rev.  Dr  Smith,  who  attended  them  in  their  last  moments,  ii 
the  statement  were  correct,  4  I  am  sorry  to  say.'  replied  Dr  Smith,  '  that 
it  is  perfectly  true.  I  myself  pressed  my  hand  against  his  mouth  to 
prevent  a  repetition  of  the  imprecation.'" — The  Sham  Squire;  or,  tin 
Rebellion  in  Inland  of  1798,  p.  190.  By  W.  J.  Fitzpatrick,  Esq.,  J.P. 
1868. 


ADJUSTMENT  OF  A  QUARREL. 


71 


moment,"  replied  O'Connell;  who  left  the  hall  only  to 
return  in  a  few  moments,  and  offer  his  opponent  the 
weapons  he  had  named,  begging  he  would  take  his  choice, 
m  it  was  just  the  same  to  him  with  what  weapons  he 
fought. 

The  French  youth  declined  further  combat,  and  it  is  said 
that  no  one  attempted  any  annoyance  to  O'Connell  during 
the  remainder  of  his  brief  residence  at  St  Omers. 

It  was  at  one  time  very  frequently  asserted  that  the 
Liberator  had  been  intended  for  the  priesthood.  This  mis- 
take arose  naturally  from  the  fact  of  his  having  been 
educated  at  St  Omers,  and  from  ignorance  of  the  course 
of  education  pursued  there.  The  college  was  originally 
founded  fur  ecclesiastics,  but  there  was  also  a  separate 
foundation  for  secular  students.6    It  is  probable  that  the 

6  Florence  Conry,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  and  founder  of  the  Irish 
College  of  Louvain,  was  one  of  the  first  to  suggest  and  to  carry  out 
the  idea  of  supplying  Irish  youth  with  the  means  of  education  on  the 
Continent,  which  they  were  denied  at  home.  It  is  a  fact,  unexampled 
in  the  history  of  nations,  that  a  whole  race  should  have  been  thus  denied 
the  means  of  acquiring  even  the  elements  of  learning,  and  equally  un- 
exampled is  the  zeal  with  which  the  nation  sought  to  procure  abroad  the 
advantages  from  which  they  were  so  cruelly  debarred  at  home.  At 
Louvain  some  of  the  most  distinguished  Irish  scholars  were  educated. 
An  Irish  press  was  established  within  its  halls,  which  was  kept  con- 
stantly employed,  and  whence  proceeded  some  of  the  most  valuable 
works  of  the  age,  as  well  as  a  scarcely  less  important  literature  for  the 
people,  in  the  form  of  short  treatises  on  religion  or  history.  Colleges 
were  also  established  atDouay,  Lisle,  Antwerp,  Tournay,  and  St  Omers, 
principally  through  the  exertions  of  Christopher  Cusack,a  learned  priest 
of  the  diocese  of  Meath.    Cardinal  Ximenes  founded  an  Irish  College  at 


72 


0' CONN  ELL  AND  THE  CHURCH. 


misapprehension  was  encouraged  for  political  purposes, 
though  O'Connell  took  pains  to  contradict  it  on  more  than 
one  occasion. 

In  a  letter  published  in  the  Dublin  Evening  Post,  J uly  1 7, 
1828,  he  says; — "  I  was  not  intended  for  the  Church.  No 
mar  respects,  loves,  or  submits  to  the  Church  with  more  alac- 
rity than  I  do,  but  I  was  not  intended  for  the  priesthood." 

As  O'Connell  gave  his  opinion  on  the  French  Revolution 
very  fully  to  Mr  Daunt,  and  as  that  opinion  has  been  re- 
corded by  him,  we  shall  do  well  to  insert  it  at  length. 

O'Connell  was  asked  in  the  course  of  our  after-dinner 
table-talk,  "  whether  he  had  read  Thiers'  work  on  the  French 
Revolution?" 

Lisbon,  and  Cardinal  Henriquez  founded  a  similar  establishment  at  Evora. 
It  is  a  remarkable  evidence  of  tlie  value  which  has  always  been  set  on 
learning  by  the  Catholic  Church,  that  even  in  times  of  persecution,  when 
literary  culture  demanded  such  sacrifices,  she  would  not  admit  unedu- 
cated persons  to  the  priesthood.  Before  1793  there  were  four  colleges 
at  Douay.  1st,  The  grand  college  for  secular  students  called  the 
Grands  Anglais.  It  was  purchased  by  the  French  Government  in 
1820,  and  is  now  used  as  an  artillery  barracks.  2d,  The  Scotch  Col- 
lege, now  occupied  by  a  religious  order.  3d,  The  Irish  College,  which 
is  completely  destroyed,  and  the  site  occupied  by  private  houses.  4th, 
The  Benedictine  College,  which  still  flourishes.  It  was  built  in  1768, 
and  re-opened  in  1818.  "  The  Bishop  of  Ardagh  told  me,"  says  O'Neill 
Daunt,  "that  a  French  captain  of  artillery  said  to  him  shortly  after  the 
trois  jours  de  Juillet,  '  Some  of  us  imagined  that  your  O'Connell  waa 
born  at  St  Omers.  Ah  !  if  he  had  been  a  native  of  our  country  we 
should  have  made  him  King  of  the  French.'  "  Considering  the 
fashion  in  which  kings  are  made  and  unmade  by  our  continental 
neighbours,  we  think  O'Connell  was  quite  as  happy  in  having  been 
born  in  Ireland. 


THE  FREXCH  REVOLUTION. 


73 


"  Ye?,"  he  replied,  u  and  I  do  not  very  much  like  it. 
Thiers  has  a  strong  propensity  to  laud  every  oue  who  was 
successful,  and  to  disparage  those  who  did  not  succeed. 
The  hest  account  of  the  French  Revolution  is  in  one  cf  the 
volumes  of  Marmontel's  4  Memoirs.'  Certainly,"  continued 
he,  "  that  Revolution  was  grievously  needed,  although  it 
was  bought  at  the  price  of  so  much  blood !  The  ecclesi- 
astical abbes  were  a  great  public  nuisance;  they  were 
chiefly  cadets  of  noble  families,  who  were  provided  for  with 
sinecure  revenues  out  of  the  abbey  lands.  The  nobility 
engrossed  the  commissions  in  the  army ;  and  both  the 
clergy  and  the  nobility,  although  infinitely  the  richest 
bodies  in  the  state,  were  exempt  from  taxes.  The  people 
were  the  scapegoats — they  were  taxed  for  all ;  the  burdens 
of  the  state  were  all  thrown  upon  them,  whilst  its  honours 
and  emoluments  were  monopolised  by  the  untaxed.  This 
was  a  gro<s  wrong — the  Revolution  has  swept  it  away.  It 
was  highly  creditable  to  the  fidelity  of  the  French  Catholic 
clergy,  that  so  few  of  them  joined  the  enemies  of  religion 
at  that  trying  time  of  error.  I  question  whether  a  dozen 
of  the  French  Catholic  bishops  apostatised ;  and  as  for  the 
vast  mass  of  the  parochial  clergy,  they  afforded  a  most 
glorious  and  sublime  example  of  devotion  and  faithfulness. 
Catholicity,  I  trust,  will  rebound  against  French  Infidelity, 
as  she  is  daily  doing  against  English  sectarianism." 

He  then  spoke  of  an  article  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  and 
expressed  his  satisfaction  that  the  writer  was  com) jelled  to 


74 


INTERVIEW  WITH  ROBERT  OWEN. 


admit  that  "the  Catholic  religion  is  perennial  and  immor- 
tal ;  and  as  vivacious  in  the  nineteenth  century  of  her 
existence,  as  she  was  the  day  of  her  first  institution." 

O'Connell's  abhorrence  of  anything  which  tended  to 
undermine  religious  influence  showed  itself  repeatedly  in 
his  conversations.  The  account  which  he  himself  gave  of 
his  interview  with  the  secularist  Owen  is  worth  recording 
here  as  an  evidence  of  this. 

"  '  Owen  called  upon  me/  said  he,  '  and  told  me  he  had 
come  for  my  co-operation  in  a  work  of  universal  benevo- 
lence.' I  replied  that  '  I  should  always  be  happy  to  aid 
such  a  work.'  '  I  expected  no  less  from  your  character, 
Mr  O'Conuell,'  said  Owen.  '  Would  not  you  wish — I  am 
sure  you  would — to  elevate  the  condition  of  the  whole  hu- 
man race?'  'Certainly,  Mr  Owen,'  replied  I.  4  Would 
not  you  wish  to  see  a  good  hat  on  everybody?'  '  Un^ 
doubtedry.'  'And  good  shoes?'  '  Oh,  certainly.'  'And 
good  trousers  ? '  '  Unquestionably.'  '  And  would  not 
you  desire  to  see  the  whole  family  of  man  well  housed 
and  fed  ? '  '  Doubtless.  But,  Mr  Owen,  as  my  time  is 
much  taken  up,  may  I  beg  that  you  will  proceed  at  once 
to  point  out  how  all  these  desirable  objects  are,  in 
your  opinion,  to  be  worked  out?'  'In  the  first  place, 
Mr  O'Connell,"  said  Owen,  '  we  must  educate  anew  the 
population  of  these  kingdoms,  and  entirely  remove  the 
crust  of  superstitious  error  from  their  minds.  In  fact,  the 
whole  thing,  called  Revealed  Religion,  must  be  got  rid  of.' 


O'COXXELL  AT  ZIXCOLX'S  IXX. 


75 


I  thought  my  worthy  visitor  was  going  too  far.  I  rose  and 
bowed  him  out.  6  I  wish  you  a  very  good  morning,  Mr 
Owen,'  said  I,  '  it  would  he  useless  to  prolong  our  inter- 
view. I  see  at  once  that  you  and  I  cannot  co-operate  in 
any  work  or  under  any  circumstances.'  " 

In  1794  O'Connell  entered  as  a  student  in  Lincoln's  Inn, 
London.  He  lodged  at  first  in  a  court  on  the  north  side  of 
Coventry  Street.  Fifty  years  after,  as  he  passed  hy  the 
place,  he  called  the  attention  of  a  friend  to  a  fishmonger's 
shop,  saying,  "  That  shop  is  precisely  in  the  same  state  in 
which  I  remember  it  when  I  was  at  Gray's  Inn.  It  has 
the  same-sized  window,  the  same  frontage,  and  I  believe 
the  same  fish!"  While  residing  here,  he  followed  his 
private  occupation  of  writing,  but  his  taste  for  a  country 
life  induced  him  to  make  a  change  of  residence  in  1795. 
He  thus  describes  his  new  abode  in  a  letter  to  his  brother- 
Maurice  : — 

"  I  am  now  only  four  miles  from  town,  and  pay  the  same  price 
for  board  and  lodging  as  I  should  in  London  ;  but  I  enjoy  many 
advantages  here  (in  Chiswick)  besides  sir  and  retirement.  The 
society  in  the  house  is  mixed — I  mean  composed  of  men  and 
women,  all  of  whom  are  people  of  rank  and  knowledge  of  the 
world  ;  so  their  conversation  and  manners  are  perfectly  well 
adapted  to  rub  off  the  dust  of  scholastic  education  ;  nor  is  there 
any  danger  of  riot  or  dissipation,  as  they  are  all  advanced  in  life, 
another  student  of  law  and  I  being  the  only  young  persons  in  the 
house.  This  young  man  is  my  most  intimate  acquaintance,  and 
the  only  friend  I  have  found  among  my  acquaintance.  His  name 
is  Bennett.    He  is  an  Irishman  of  good  family  connections  and 


76 


O'CONNELL'S  AMBITION. 


fortune.  He  is  prudent  and  strictly  economical.  He  has  good 
sense,  ability,  and  application.  I  knew  him  before  my  journey  to 
Ireland.  It  was  before  that  period  our  friendship  commenced. 
So  that  on  the  whole  I  spend  my  time  here  not  only  pleasantly, 
but  I  hope  very  usefully. 

"  The  only  law  books  T  have  bought  as  yet  are  the  works  of 
Espinasse  on  the  trials  of  nisiprius.  They  cost  me  £1, 10s.  ;  and 
contain  more  information  on  the  practical  part  of  the  law  than  any 
other  books  I  have  ever  met.  When  in  Dublin  I  reflected  that 
carrying  any  more  books  than  were  absolutely  necessary  would  be 
incurring  expense  ;  so  I  deferred  buying  a  complete  set  of  reports 
until  my  return  thither. 

"  I  have  now  two  objects  to  pursue — the  one,  the  attainment  of 
knowledge  ;  the  other,  the  acquisition  of  those  qualities  which 
constitute  the  polite  gentleman.  I  am  convinced  that  the  former, 
besides  the  immediate  pleasure  that  it  yields,  is  calculated  to  raise 
me  to  honours,  rank,  and  fortune  ;  and  I  know  that  the  latter 
serves  as  a  general  passport :  and  as  for  the  motive  of  ambition 
which  you  suggest,  I  assure  you  that  no  man  can  possess  more  of 
it  than  I  do.  I  have  indeed  a  glowing  and — if  I  may  use  the 
expression — an  enthusiastic  ambition,  which  converts  every  toil 
into  a  pleasure  and  every  study  into  an  amusement. 

"  Though  nature  may  have  given  me  subordinate  talents,  I  never 
will  be  satisfied  with  8  subordinate  situation  in  my  profession. 
No  man  is  able,  I  am  aware,  to  supply  the  total  deficiency  of  ability; 
but  everybody  is  capable  of  improving  and  enlarging  a  stock, 
however  small  and,  in  its  beginning,  contemptible.  It  is  this 
reflection  that  affords  me  consolation.  If  I  do  not  rise  at  the  bar, 
I  will  not  have  to  meet  the  reproaches  of  my  own  conscience.  It 
is  not  because  I  assert  these  things  now  that  I  should  conceive 
myself  entitled  to  call  on  you  to  believe  them.  I  refer  that  con- 
viction which  I  wish  to  inspire  to  your  experience.  I  hope — nay, 
I  flatter  myself — that  when  we  meet  again  the  success  of  my  efforts 
fco  correct  those  bad  habits  which  you  pointed  out  to  me  will  be 


CA  TH0L1C  CIIL  RCH  CONSER  VA  TI  VK 


77 


apparent  Indeed,  as  for  my  knowledge  in  the  professional  line, 
that  cannot  he  discovered  for  some  years  to  come  ;  but  I  have  time 
in  the  interim  to  prepare  myself  to  appear  with  great  £clat  on  the 
grand  theatre  of  the  world." 

At  this;  period  of  O'Connell's  life  he  was  undoubtedly  a 
Tory.  His  account  of  his  conversion  to  Liberal  opinions  is 
both  curious  and  instructive,  and  it  explains  an  intellectual 
and  moral  difficult}'  which  has  perplexed  many  English 
Protestants. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  always  been  conservative  both 
in  principle  and  in  practice  ;  but  because  it  has  always  set 
its  face  steadfastly  against  individual  and  public  abuses, 
because  it  has  always  taken  the  part  of  the  oppressed 
against  the  oppressor,  its  policy  has  been  misrepresented 
by  those  who  desire  to  exercise  arbitrary  power  unchecked, 
and  misunderstood  by  those  who  are  too  indifferent  or  too 
prejudiced  to  reason  calmly. 

And  yet  one  of  the  most  eminent  English  Protestant 
historians  has  admitted  this  truth,  has  proclaimed  it,  has 
asserted  it.  The  historian  of  the  French  Revolution  writes 
thus : — 

"  It  was  the  Christian  Church,  the  parent  of  so  many  lofty 
doctrines  and  new  ideas,  which  had  the  glory  of  offering  to  the 
world,  amidst  the  wreck  of  ancient  institutions,  the  model  of  a 
form  of  government  which  gives  to  all  classes  the  right  of  suffrage, 
by  establishing  a  system  which  may  embrace  the  remotest  in- 
terests, which  preserves  the  energy  and  avoids  the  evils  of  de- 
mocracy, which  maintains  the  tribune,  and  shuns  the  strife  of  the 
forum. 


78  THE  CHURCH  AND  CIVILISATION. 


"The  Christian  councils  were  the  first  examples  of  representative 
assemblies ;  there  were  united  to  the  whole  Roman  world  there 
a  priesthood,  which  embraced  the  civilised  earth,  assembled  by- 
means  of  delegates  to  deliberate  on  the  affairs  of  the  universal 
Church.  When  Europe  revived,  it  adopted  the  same  model.  Every 
nation  by  degrees  borrowed  the  customs  of  the  Church,  to  berth© 
sole  depository  of  the  traditions  of  civilisation. 

"  It  was  the  religion  of  the  vanquished  people,  and  the  clergy 
who  instructed  them  in  this  admirable  system,  which  flourished 
in  the  councils  of  Nice,  Sardis,  and  Byzantium,  centuries  before  it 
was  heard  of  in  Western  Europe,  and  which  did  not  arise  in  the 
woods  of  Germany,  but  in  the  catacombs  of  Rome,  during  the 
sufferings  of  the  primitive  Church." 7 

The  Catholic  is  conservative  by  religious  belief ;  but  by 
conservatism,  he  understands  the  protection  and  the  pre- 

7  Alison's  History  of  Europe,  vol.  iii.  p..  1 76. — Elsewhere  he  says :  "  The 
councils  of  the  Church  had,  so  early  as  the  sixth  century,  introduced 
over  all  Christendom  the  most  perfect  system  of  representation.  .  .  . 
Every  Christian  priest,  however  humble  his  station,  had  some  share  in 
the  practice  of  these  great  assemblies,  by  which  the  general  affairs  of 
the  Church  were  to  be  regulated."  In  truth  this  system  of  conserva- 
tive and  representative  government  has  continued  in  the  Catholic 
Church  with  unbroken  regularity  from  the  first  council  at  Antioch,  where 
there  was  "  much  disputing "  until  Peter  spoke,  until  the  last  council 
at  Rome,  where  there  was  also  much  disputing  until  the  voice  of 
the  Church  spoke  through  the  majesty  of  her  pastors.  Even  the  infidel 
Voltaire  admitted  that  the  Popes  restrained  princes,  and  protected  the 
people.  The  Bull  In  Ccena  Domini  contained  an  excommunication 
against  those  who  should  levy  new  taxes  upon  their  estates,  or  should 
increase  those  already  existing  beyond  the  bounds  of  right.  For  further 
information  on  this  subject,  see  Balmez,  European  Civilisation,  passim. 
M.  Guizot  says  :  "  She  [the  Church]  alone  resisted  the  system  of  castes  ; 
she  alone  maintained  the  principle  of  equality  of  competition  ;  she  alone 
called  all  legitimate  superiors  to  the  possession  of  power.'—  Hist.  Cou 
de  la  Civilization  en  Europe,  Lect.  5. 


LOYALTY  OF  CATHOLICS. 


79 


■Oration  of  right,  the  pr  Section  of  human  nature  against 
itself  by  the  enforcement  of  divine  law. 

How  much,  how  often,  and  how  severely  Catholics  have 
suffered  for  conservative  principles,  let  history  relate.  In 
[reland  they  were  faithful  to  the  most  faithless  of  monarchs. 
In  England  they  were  faithful  to  the  most  thankless,  and 
one  of  the  most  unworthy  of  kings ;  and  this  not  from 
any  preference  for  the  foolish  James,  or  the  wanton 
Charles,  but  simply  from  active  belief  in  the  divine  principle, 
u  Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Ca?sar's,"  from  the 
divine  principle  of  eternal  right  and  justice.  It  may  be 
objected,  it  has  been  objected,  that  Catholics  have  rebelled 
against  their  temporal  sovereign,  and  the  Irish  Rebellion 
will  be  quoted  as  an  evidence  that  Catholics  can  be,  and 
have  been,  not  only  democratic,  but  even  infidel.  The 
exception  proves  the  rule.  Catholics  have  never  rebelled 
against  any  temporal  sovereign,  unless  such  rebellion  has 
Iteen  justified  by  the  necessity  for  the  conservation  of  the 
power  of  One  higher  than  any  earthly  monarch;  and  such 
re>i>tances  to  any  lawful  constituted  human  rule  have 
been  rare.* 

In  France  it  was  not  Catholics,  but  those  who  had  long 

?  It  13  difficult  to  induce  some  persons  to  consider  any  such  question 
calmly  and  dispassionately.  Englishmen  who  think  at  all  on  the  subject, 
are  generally  loud  in  their  assertions  of  Irish  disloyalty.  Now  there  u 
a  very  wide  difference  between  loyalty  to  a  sovereign  and  approbation 
ot  all  bis  acts,  or  the  acts  performed  by  bis  government.  Every  English 
monarch  who  has  ruled  Ireland  has  been  treated  with  respect,  and 


80        THE  CLERGY  AND  THE  REVOLUTION. 


ceased  to  be  Catholics,  who  were  guilty  of  regicide,  and 
of  crimes  whose  atrocity  shocked  the  whole  civilised  world. 
The  men  who  dragged  Louis  XYI.  to  the  scaffold,  openly 
renounced  all  religious  belief.  The  men  who  murdered 
Charles  made  a  pitiful  boast  of  their  religion.9 

In  England,  except  during  times  of  special  persecution^ 
which  were  comparatively  rare,  Catholics  did  not  suffer 
from  political  or  legal  injustice.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that 
they  were  denied  the  rights  of  citizens,  but  they  were- 
tolerated,  especially  when  heavy  fines  could  be  obtained 
to  replenish  the  coffers  of  needy  or  licentious  monarchs. 
The  fewness  of  their  number  protected  them,  and  what  was 

even  those  Irish  papers  which  write  most  strongly  on  the  subject  of 
English  misgovern ment,  invariably  respect  the  person  of  the  sovereign. 
When  the  English  nation  rebelled  against  James  II.,  he  took  refuge 
in  Ireland  ;  how  he  repaid  Irish  loyalty  is  but  too  well  known  and 
remembered  in  Ireland. 

9  In  France,  though  many  of  the  clergy  were  corrupted  by  the  deluge 
of  evil  which  inundated  the  land,  where,  and  because,  all  religious 
interests  were  withdrawn,  there  were  yet  a  much  larger  number  who 
were  faithful.  "  The  clergy  in  France  were  far  from  being  insensible 
to  the  danger  of  this  flood  of  irreligion  which  deluged  the  land." — Ali- 
son's History  of  Europe,  vol.  i.,  page  89.  Again,  "In  a  general  assembly 
of  the  clergy,  held  in  1770,  the  most  vigorous  resistances  against  the 
multiplication  of  irreligious  works  were  made.  1  Impiety,'  they  said  "  ia 
making  inroads  alike  on  God  and  man  ;  it  will  never  be  satisfied  till  it 
has  destroyed  every  power,  divine  and  human.'" — page  87.  ''It  is  a 
remarkable  proof  how  completely  ignorant  the  most  able  persons  in 
Europe  were  of  the  ultimate  effects  of  this  irreligious  spirit,  that  the 
greatest  encouragement  which  the  sceptical  philosophy  of  France  received 
was  from  the  despots  of  the  north — Frederick  the  Great,  and  the  Em- 
press Catherine." — page  88. 


ENGLISH  CATHOLIC  POLITICS. 


31 


of  still  more  importance,  united  them.  The  very  hopeless- 
ness of  success,  if  they  attempted  to  interfere  in  public 
affairs,  kept  them  silent.  Agitation  would  have  been  worse 
than  imprudent,  and  they  had  so  long  learned  to  keep  silence, 
to  submit,  to  live  apart  from  their  fellows,  to  believe  peace 
to  be  the  one  thing  above  all  others  to  be  desired,  that  they 
at  last  came  to  believe  any  demand  for  redress  to  be 
dangerous,  if  not  positively  wrong  ;  and  any  agitation  to 
be  imprudent  to  the  highest  degree,  if  not  positively 
culpable. 

Hence  the  English  Catholics,  and  especially  the  English 
Catholics  of  the  upper  classes,  were  necessarily  conservative, 
and  hence  also  many  Irish  Catholics  of  the  upper  classes, 
from  association  or  intermarriage  with  English  Catholics, 
became  conservative  also.  Their  few  dependants  believed 
as  they  believed,  and  thought  as  they  thought.  They 
also  intermarried  with  each  other,  and  lived  apart,  and  they 
also  feared  all  change,  because,  as  a  general  rule,  change 
was  productive  of  evil. 

But  with  the  great  mass  of  Irish  Catholics,  with,  in 
fact,  all  of  the  middle  or  poorest  class  who  thought,  there 
was  little  love  for  Conservatism.  Their  state  was  such 
until  the  close  of  the  last  century  (and  it  is  of  that  period 
we  write),  that  however  their  condition  might  be  improved 
by  any  change,  it  could  scarcely  be  injured. 

They  had  none  of  the  English  Catholic  traditional  love 
of,  or  reverence  for  monarchy.    How,  indeed,  could  they 

F 


82 


IRISH  CATHOLIC  POLITICS. 


have  it?  They  were  told  that  a  certain  person  was  king 
of  England,  but  whether  that  person  was  a  William  or  a 
George  was  quite  the  same  to  them.  It  was  a  sound  and 
nothing  more. 

They  heard  indeed  the  name  of  their  king,  but  they 
never  saw  him,  they  never  even  felt  his  influence.  A  royal 
birth  or  death  was  neither  a  subject  of  grief  nor  sorrow.  They 
heard  that  such  events  occurred,  perhaps  long  after  they  had 
happened,  but  for  all  practical  interest  or  difference  which 
it  made  to  them,  the  birth  or  the  death  of  a  New  Zealander 
would  have  been  just  the  same. 

But  when  they  complained  from  time  to  time  against 
injustice,  or  when  they  rebelled  against  it,  then  indeed  they 
vere  made  to  feel  the  power  of  this  distant  sovereign, 
cf  this  individual  in  whose  name  vindictive  and  cruel 
punishments  were  inflicted.  Certainly  they  had  no  reason 
to  uphold  monarchy,  to  revere  English  law,  or  to  desire  to 
preserve  English  government,  as  it  showed  itself  to  them. 
They  could  not  be  conservative.1 

1  When  the  Irish  were  not  allowed  even  to  rent  a  small  piece  of  land, 
they  called  the  little  plot  of  earth  which  could  not  be  denied  them  a 
"  Protestant  lease  of  the  sod."  It  was  in  allusion  to  this  penal  law  that 
the  Irish  rhymer  made  the  attendants  at  the  felon's  wake  sing — 

"  But  when  dat  we  found  him  quite  dead, 
In  de  dustcase  we  bundled  his  carcase, 
For  a  Protestant  lease  of  the  sod." 
—Sketches  of  Ireland  Sixty  Years  Ago,  p.  89.    Dublin,  1847. 

Colonel  Jervis  says  :  "  To  hold  out  the  bribe  of  the  father's  property 
to  conforming  children,  brought  into  play  every  ill  feelirg  of  which  man 


THE  WORST  CHURCH  IN  C II REST E XD 0  M.  83 


The  influence  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  the  power  of  the 
Catholic  priesthood  alone  prevented  the  Irish  Celt  from 
avenging  his  wrongs,  not  indeed  with  the  ferocity  of  a  Com- 
munist, for  the  Irish  Celt  has  no  taint  of  cruelty  in  his 
nature,  but  with  the  unflinching  vengeance  of  a  Roman 
plebeian. 

It  was  precisely  because  many  English  Catholics  failed  to 
see  the  difference  between  their  own  position  and  the  posi- 
tion of  their  Irish  brethren,  that  they  looked  eoldly  upon 
(JConneirs  career,  that  they  would  rather  have  kept  their 
chains  around  them  a  little  longer  than  have  accepted  release 
by  the  means  which  he  used  to  obtain  it  for  them. 

And  yet,  as  we  have  said,  O'Connell  began  life  as  a 
Conservative.  His  son  thus  describes  the  time  and  manner 
of  the  change  : — 


is  capable — impiety,  ingratitude,  hatred  between  father  and  son,  brother 
and  brother.  But  the  penal  law  has  never  been  found  which  could  con- 
vert mankind  to  any  one  doctrine  ;  on  the  contrary,  persecution  breeds 
obstinacy,  and  the  ignorant  sinner  becomes  elevated  into  the  proud 
martyr.  Besides,  in  Ireland  there  were  still  no  means  of  exemplifying 
to  the  masses  the  greater  wisdom  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  Pro- 
testant Lord  Clarendon  complained  of  the  absence  of  the  bishops  in 
England,  and  of  the  disgraceful  state  of  their  dioceses.  Queen  Mary,  as 
Lead  of  the  Church,  wrote  to  William  when  in  Ireland  to  take  care  of  it, 
'for  everybody  agrees  it  is  the  worst  in  Christendom.'  Many  years 
later  the  illustrious  Bishop  Berkeley  gave  a  similar  account.  Confor- 
mity meant  not  a  belief  in  Church  of  England  doctrines,  but  a  disbelief 
in  revealed  religion." — Ireland  under  British  Rule,  p.  217.  No  one  could 
desire  the  conservation  of  such  a  state  of  government,  or  manifest 
attachment  to  it. 


84 


O1 'CON NELL  A   TORY  IN  HIS  YOUTH. 


"  On  the  21st  December  1793,  the  day  the  unfortunate 
Louis  was  beheaded  at  Paris,  the  brothers  set  out  in  a 
voiture  for  Calais,  which  they  reached  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  23d ;  not,  however,  without  some  parting  compli- 
merits  from  their  friends,  the  soldiery ;  who  went  so  far  aa 
several  times  to  strike  the  head  of  the  vehicle  with  their 
musket  stocks.  The  English  packet-boat,  aboard  of  which 
the  boys  proceeded  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  was  pre* 
sently  under  weigh  ;  and  as  she  passed  out  of  the  harbour, 
Mr  O'Connell  and  his  brother  eagerly  tore  out  of  theii 
caps  the  tricolor  cockades,  which  the  commonest  regard  for 
personal  safety  rendered  indispensable  to  be  worn  b}r  every 
one  in  France  ;  and,  after  trampling  them  under  foot,  flung 
them  into  the  sea.  This  boyish  outburst  of  natural  execra- 
tion of  the  horrors  which  had  been  committed  under  thai 
emblem,  procured  them  a  few  of  those  sonorous  curses  which 
only  a  Frenchman  can  give,  from  some  fishermen  rowing 
past  at  the  moment,  by  whom  the  cockades  were  rescued 
from  the  waves,  and  placed  in  their  hats  with  all  becoming 
reverence.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  Mr  O'Connell 
should,  when,  in  1794,  he  became  a  law-student  in  Lincoln's 
Inn,  be  in  a  state  very  nearly  approaching,  as  he  has  often 
said,  to  that  of  a  Tory  at  heart. 

"  So  strong  and  ardent  were  these  feelings,  that,  the  cele- 
brated trial  of  Hardy  and  others  having  occurred  about 
this  time  (viz.,  October  1794),  Mr  O'Connell  attended  it 
daily,  certainly:  not  more  for  the  mere  interest  of  the  thing, 


CONVERSION  TO  POTULAR  OPIMONS. 


85 


or  benefit  of  the  law  arguments  to  him  as  a  student,  than 
for  the  gratification  of  anti-revolutionary  feeling,  at  seeing 
a  supposed  offender  against  law  and  social  order  in  a  fair 
way  of  receiving  condign  punishment. 

"  To  llv  O'Connell's  astonishment,  he  found,  ere  the  trial 
had  proceeded  far,  that  his  sentiments  were  fast  changing 
to  those  of  pity  towards  the  accused,  and  of  something  of 
self-reproach  for  having  desired  his  conviction  and  punish- 
ment ;  and,  each  successive  day  revealing  more  and  more 
the  trumped-up  and  iniquitous  nature  of  the  prosecution,8 
the  process  of  change  in  Mr  O'Connell's  mind  ended  by 
fully  and  finally  converting  him  to  popular  opinions  and 
principles,  and  confirming  his  natural  detestation  of  tyranny, 
and  desire  of  resisting  it." 

Even  Fox  had  been  disgusted  with  this  trial,  and  saw 
clearly  the  effect  it  would  be  likely  to  produce  on  the 


*  This  famous  trial  excited  an  immense  sensation  at  the  time.  John 
Home  Tooke  had  been,  and  according  to  English  law  was,  a  clergyman, 
having  embraced  the  ecclesiastical  state  to  please  his  father,  and  very 
much  against  his  own  inclination.  He  was  educated  at  Eton,  and 
afterwards  at  St  John's  College,  Cambridge.  In  1773  he  studied  law. 
While  a  student  he  assisted  Dr  William  Tooke  upon  an  enclosure-bill, 
a  subject  which  no  doubt  led  him  to  consider  popular  politics,  or  rather 
to  consider  politics  from  the  people's  point  of  view.  He  took  up  the 
American  War  with  more  energy  than  discretion,  condemned  the  con- 
duct of  the  government,  and  made  a  subscription  for  the  widows  and 
orphans  of  those  Americans  who  had  been  "  murdered  by  the  king's 
troops  at  Lexington  and  Concord."  He  was  the  author  of  the  elaborate 
"Diversions  of  Purley."  John  Thelwall  was  also  a  writer  of  some  repu- 
tation.   He  retired  to  Wales  after  his  acquittal,  and  died  at  Bath  in  1834 


NONSENSE  ABOUT  CONSPIRACY. 


public  mind.  He  writes  thus  to  Lord  Holland,  June  23, 
1794  :— 

"  I  think,  of  all  the  measures  of  Government,  this  last 
nonsense  about  conspiracy  is  the  most  mischievous,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  most  foolish.  How  truly  have  they  made 
good  that  parallel  you  drew  between  the  Jacobins  of  France 
and  the  Crown  party  here!  If  they  succeed  in  committing 
and  hanging  any  of  these  fellows  whom,  they  have  taken 
up,  it  will  be  considered  as  a  corroboration  of  the  conspiracy, 
and  a  pretence  for  more  extraordinary  powers  ;  if  they  fail, 
as  I  rather  think  they  will,  then  the  consequence  that 
always  belongs  to  men  who  have  been  falsely  accused  and 
acquitted  will  attach  to  Home  Tooke,  Thelwall,  and 
others  like  them,  and  possibly  that  danger  which  was  only 
imaginary  may  in  time  become  real  by  those  wise  man- 
oeuvres, which,  unaccountably  to  me,  my  old  friends  think 
calculated  to  dispel  it." 

The  state  of  England  at  this  period  was  scarcely  less  a 
subject  of  apprehension  to  public  men.  than  the  state  of  Ire- 
land. The  most  fatal  and  disastrous  calamities  might  have 
happened  in  that  country  if  timely  concession  had  not  been 
made.  In  Ireland  rebellion  was  wilfully  and  advisedly 
excited.  In  England  every  reasonable  effort  was  made  to 
conciliate,  This  is  a  fact  which  has  been  completely  over- 
looked in  considering  the  history  of  the  period,  when 
studied  in  connection  with  Irish  politics. 

George  III.  ascended  thf,  throne  in  the  year  1760, 


THE  GEORGES  AND  THE  1 11  MINISTERS.  87 


His  reign  was  an  eventful  one,  but  the  circumstances 
which  made  it  such  were  not  turned  to  the  national 
advantage.  It  may  be  questioned,  indeed,  whether  the 
stolid  Hanoverian  princes  were  capable  of  a  large  or 
enterprising  policy ;  that  they  were  capable  of  mistrust- 
ing ministers  who  were  possessed  of  larger  minds  than 
their  own,  and  of  following  ministers  who  were  too 
pliant  for  effective  service,  the  contemporary  history  of 
the  period  sufficiently  proves.8 

Two  great  events  of  the  age,  the  French  Revolution  and  the 
revolt  of  the  American  colonies,  reacted  on  English  society, 


3  Perhaps,  however,  some  of  his  ministers  were  as  much  to  blame  for 
facility  of  acquiescence.  Lord  North's  character  is  thus  described  by 
his  own  daughter,  Lady  Charlotte  Lindsay  : — "  His  character  in  private 
life  was,  I  believe,  as  faultless  as  that  of  any  human  being  can  be  ;  and 
those  actions  of  his  public  life  which  appeared  to  have  been  the  most 
questionable,  proceeded,  I  am  firmly  convinced,  from  what  one  must 
own  was  a  weakness,  though  not  an  unamiable  one,  and  which  followed 
him  through  his  life — the  want  of  power  to  resist  the  influence  of  those 
he  loved."—  Appendix  to  Lord  Brougham's  "  Historical  Sketches  of  States- 
men who  flourished  in  the  Rei<jn  of  George  III."  Lord  North  was  made 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  his  thirty-sixth  year.  His  parliamentary 
career  commenced  in  1754,  and  during  Mr  Pitt's  first  administration  he 
•>ccupied  a  seat  at  the  Treasury  Board.  He  was  removed  by  the  Rock- 
Ingham  ministry  in  1765,  but  came  into  office  again  with  Lord  Chatham 
as  paymaster. 

A  few  days  only  before  he  became  Prime  Minister,  one  of  his  keenest 
opponents,  Mr  Burke,  thus  described  him  in  the  House  of  Commons : — 
**  The  noble  lord  who  spoke  last,  after  extending  his  right  leg  a  full 
yard  before  his  left,  rolling  his  flaming  eyes,  and  moving  his  ponderous 
frame,  has  at  length  opened  his  mouth." — Speech  of  January  9,  1770, 
•  ParL  Hist"  xvi.  p.  720. 


88 


DEMOCRATIC  TENDENCY  OF  THE  AGE. 


and  on  English  social  life.  The  monarchs  who  preceded 
George  III.  were  unpopular,  partly  because  they  were 
devoid  of  those  personal  attractions  which  fascinated  the 
followers  of  the  house  of  Stuart,  and  partly  because  they 
neither  understood,  nor  took  much  pains  to  understand, 
cheir  English  subjects. 

The  severity  with  which  social  crimes  were  punished  only 
tended  to  increase  them,  and  developed  political  agitations 
for  which  there  was  already  sufficient  cause.  The  nation 
had  ceased  to  speak  of  or  believe  in  the  divine  right  of 
kings.  The  person  of  the  sovereign  was  no  longer  an 
object  of  respect.  This  democratic  tendency  of  thought, 
reacted  upon  by  the  revolutionary  spirit  of  France,  which 
began  by  denying  divine  right,  and  ended  by  denying 
human  justice,  had  its  culmination  in  England  in  a  per- 
sonal attack  on  the  king,  of  which  O'Connell  was  an  eye- 
witness. Of  this  attack  we  shall  speak  more  fully  after 
entering  into  the  details  of  the  circumstances  which  pro- 
ceded  it. 

George  III.,  however,  had  two  advantages,  of  which,  how- 
ever, he  was  unfortunate  enough  not  to  have  made  the  most. 
He  was  born  in  England,  and  he  had  just  sufficient  wit  to 
see  that  this  was  a  claim  on  the  fealty  of  his  English  sub- 
jects. His  private  life  was  virtuous,  and  formed  a  con- 
trast  to  that  of  the  majority  of  his  predecessors.4 


4  "  When  George  II.  had  to  receive  the  Holy  Eucharist,  his  main 


GEORGE  III.  AND  ROYAL  SI  P  REM  ACT.  89 


Unfortunately  for  himself,  he  was  under  the  influence  of 
the  Earl  of  Bute.  This  influence  was  one  which  hud  takeu 
its  rise  in  his  early  life,  and  under  somewhat  questionahle 
circumstances.  The  king  is  said  to  have  written  his  first 
speech  to  Parliament  himself,  but  it  was  alleged  that  Lord 
Bute  amended  it,  and  substituted  the  word  Briton  for 
Englishman.6  This,  certainly,  gratified  the  Scotch  party, 
if  it  did  not  merit  the  approbation  of  the  Tories.  The 
Whigs  had  been  fifry-five  years  in  office,  but  Tory  prin- 
ciples, such  as  they  then  were,  suited  the  king,  who  had 
wooden  ideas  on  the  subject  of  royal  supremacy,  for  it  was 
not  the  supremacy  of  divine  right,  but  the  supremacy  of 
a  wooden,  unvarying  rule. 

Riots  began  early  in  this  reign.  The  Whigs  believed 
that  Bute  intended  to  undermine  their  power,  and  a  beer-tax, 
of  which  he  got  the  credit,  made  him  unpopular  with  the 

anxiety  seems  to  have  been  that  the  sermon  on  that  day  might  be  a 
short  one,  since  otherwise  he  was,  to  use  his  own  words,  '  in  danger  of 
falling  asleep  and  catching  cold.' " — Lord  MaJhon,  Hint.  v.  p.  54.  Bishop 
Newton  says  {Works,  i.  p.  76,  ed.  1787),  that  he  always  took  care  in  his 
sermons  at  Court  to  come  within  the  compass  of  twenty  minutes  ;  but 
after  a  hint  as  to  brevity,  "  on  the  great  festivals  of  the  Church,  he  never 
exceeded  fifteen,  so  that  the  King  sometimes  said  to  the  Clerk  of  the 
Closet,  4  A  good  short  sermon.' " 

5  *'  I  have  heard  it  related,"  says  Lord  Mahon,  iv.  p.  212,  "  but  on  no 
Tery  clear  or  certain  authority,  that  the  King  hod  in  the  first  place 
written  the  word  '  Englishman,'  and  that  Lord  Bute  altered  it  to 
'Briton.'"  The  King's  speech  was  admired  by  Frederick  the  Great.— 
Mitchell  Papers,  voL  v.  No.  201,  p.  148. 


BO        THE  WORST  ENGLISH  GOVERNMENT. 

people.  There  was  a  disturbance  in  the  play-house  the 
year  after  the  king's  accession.6 

The  Bute  administration  lasted  just  ten  months,  and  the 
Scotch  lord  went  out  of  office,  having  made  a  peace  which 
was  unpopular  because  he  made  it,  and  leaving  his  own 
unpopularity  as  a  bequest  to  his  master. 

His  family  said  that  he  retired  from  office  for  the  sake 
of  his  personal  safety  ;  his  own  accouut  of  the  matter  was 
that  he  was  afraid  of  involving  his  royal  master  in  his 
ruin.7 

The  Grenville  administration  followed,  and  the  king 
found  himself  lectured  in  his  closet,  and  snubbed  in  his 
most  innocent  pursuits.  Macaulay  characterised  this  ad- 
ministration as  the  worst  which  ever  governed  England 
since  the  Revolution.    The  king  bore  the  lectures  as  best 

6  A  few  days  after  Lord  Bute  was  sworn,  in  to  the  Privy  Council,  a 
handbill  was  affixed  to  the  Royal  Exchange,  with  these  words  : — "  No 
petticoat  government,  no  Scotch  favourites,  no  Lord  George  Sackville." 
A  joke  went  round  the  Court  whether  the  King  would  have  "  Scotch 
coal,  Newcastle  coal,  or  Irish  coal." 

7  "  The  alarms  of  Lord  Bute's  family  about  his  personal  safety  are 
reported  here  to  be  the  immediate  cause  of  his  sudden  abdication." — 
Memoirs  of  Rockingham,  vol.  i.  p.  165. — "Single  in  a  Cabinet  of  my 
own  forming  ;  no  aid  in  the  House  of  Lords  to  support  me,  except  two 
Peers  (Denbigh  and  Pomfret) ;  both  the  Secretaries  of  State  (Lordu 
Egremont  and  Halifax)  silent ;  and  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  (Mansfield), 
whom  I  myself  brought  into  office,  voting  for  me  and  yet  speaking 
against  me — the  ground  I  tread  upon  is  so  hollow  that  I  am  afraid  not 
only  of  falling  myself,  but  of  involving  my  royal  master  in  my  ruin. 
It  is  time  for  me  to  retire." — Adolphus,  vol.  i.  p.  117.  See  also  "  The 
Correspondence  of  George  III.  and  Lord  North, '  vol.  i.  p.  lxxi. 


INAUGURATION  OF  CIVIL  WAR. 


91 


he  could,  but  he  could  not  get  even  a  small  sum  of  money 
to  purchase  some  fields  near  the  Queen's  House. 

The  Rockingham  administration  succeeded,  and  its  mem- 
bers treated  their  sovereign  "  with  decency  and  reverence 
but.  Pitt  could  not  work  with  them,  and  they  could  not 
work  without  Pitt. 

In  1763,  ou  the  14th  of  March,  George  III.  recommended 
a  proper  compensation  to  be  made  to  the  Americans  for  their 
expenses  in  the  war  of  175G.  Almost  on  that  very  day 
twelvemonths,  Mr  Grenville  brought  forward  his  unfor- 
tunate resolution  (9th  March  1 704),  which  inaugurated  the 
civil  war.  "  That  towards  defraying  the  said  expenses, 
it  may  be  proper  to  charge  certain  stamp-duties  on  the 
said  colonies  and  plantations."  In  February  17C3,  this 
resolution  passed  into  a  law.  The  law  passed  with 
little  anticipation  of  its  fatal  results.  Burke  sat  in  the 
gallery  listening  to  the  speeches,  and  declared  he  never 
heard  "  a  more  languid  debate."  The  House  of  Lords  did 
not  even  trouble  themselves  to  debate. 

The  truth  was  that  English  senators  looked  on  the 
American  colonies  as  a  dependency  which  they  could  treat 
as  they  pleased.  They  forgot  that  the  descendants  of  the 
sturdy  race  of  men  who  fled  from  England  to  escape 
religious  and  political  oppression,  were  scarcely  likely  to 
submit  to  it  in  their  adopted  country.  They  forgot  that 
the  descendants  of  such  men  were  likely  to  be  thinkers, 
to  be  men  who  would  know  their  own  interests. 


92        MISMANAGEMENT  OF  THE  COLONIES. 


It  was  a  brief  history  certainly,  but  it  was  none  the  less 
significant. 

The  English  government  relied  too  much  on  the  possible 
effects  of  their  traditional  reverence  for  that  land  from 
which  they  had  expatriated  themselves.  That  reverence 
did  exist,  but  it  was  merely  traditional.  The  moment  the 
tradition  was  weakened  by  the  stern  logic  of  facts,  its 
shattered  links  fell  to  the  ground,  and  never  again  re- 
united. 

There  were  few  men  in  England  who  grasped  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  case,  who  had  sufficient  intellect  to  look 
beyond  the  present,  sufficient  self-sacrifice  to  forego  pre- 
sent gain  when  it  was  sure  that  it  must  be  purchased  at 
the  cost  of  future  loss. 

Burke  indeed  did  his  best.  He  warned  the  Government 
that  they  were  treating  with  an  intelligent  people,  and 
with  a  people  who  not  only  loved  justice,  but  thoroughly 
understood  law,8  a  people  ' 6  who  snuffed  the  approach  of 


8  Burke,  speaking  of  the  education  of  the  colonists,  said :  "I  have  been 
told  by  an  eminent  bookseller,  that  in  no  branch  of  his  business,  after 
tracts  of  popular  devotion,  were  so  many  books  as  those  on  the  law  ex* 
ported  to  the  plantations.  The  colonists  have  now  fallen  into  the  way 
of  printing  them  for  their  own  use.  I  hear  that  they  have  sold  nearly 
as  many  of  Blackstone's  '  Commentaries '  in  America  as  in  England 
General  Gage  marks  out  this  disposition  very  particularly  in  a  letter  on 
your  table.  He  states  that  all  the  people  in  his  government  are  lawyers, 
or  smatterers  in  law  ;  and  that  in  Boston  they  have  been  enabled,  by 
successful  chicane,  wholly  to  evade  many  parts  of  one  of  your  capital 
penal  ©institutions.  .  .  .  This  study  renders  men  acute,  inquisitive* 


COS  TEMPT  FOR  AMERICA. 


93 


tyranny."  Chatham  did  his  best  also,  but  the  tide  had 
set  in  the  wrong  direction  :  and  who  could  control  an 
obstinate  king,  and  ministers,  some  of  whom  were  self-suffi- 
cient, and  some  of  whom  were  self-interested? 

But  the  public  were  not  satisfied  with  contempt  for  Ameri- 
can intellect.9  There  was  open  contempt  for  American 
military  power,  and  both  public  and  private  contempt  was 
heaped  on  Franklin,  one  of  America's  greatest  men.  At- 
torney-Generals have  not  always  distinguished  themselves 
by  prudence,  but  few  men  who  have  held  that  position  in 
England  have  stultified  themselves  or  their  country  so 
completely  as  Wedderburn,  one  of  the  Solicitor-Generals 
who  ruled  the  legal  destinies  of  England  in  the  reign  of 
George  III. 


dexterous,  prompt  in  attack,  ready  in  defence,  full  of  resources.  In 
other  countries  the  people,  more  simple,  and  of  a  less  mercurial  cast, 
judge  of  an  ill  principle  in  government  only  by  an  actual  grievance  ; 
here  they  anticipate  the  evil,  and  judge  of  the  pressure  of  the  grievance 
by  the  badness  of  the  principle.  They  augur  misgovernment  at  a  dis 
tance,  and  snuff  the  approach  of  tyranny  in  every  tainted  breeze." 

a  In  the  debate  of  16th  March  1775,  Lord  Sandwich  said  :  "The  noble 
lord  [Camden]  mentions  the  impracticability  of  conquering  America.  1 
cannot  think  the  noble  lord  can  be  serious  on  this  mutter.  Suppose  the 
colonies  do  abound  in  men,  what  does  that  signify  ?  They  are  raw,  un- 
disciplined, cowardly  men.  I  wisli  that,  instead  of  40,000  or  50,000  of 
these  half-bred  fellows,  they  would  produce  in  the  field  at  least  200,000, 
the  more  the  better,  the  easier  would  be  the  conquest."  Then  he 
related  an  anecdote  of  Sir  Peter  Warren,  and  continued, — "Believe 
me,  my  lords,  the  very  sound  cf  a  cannon  will  carry  them,  in  his  [Sir 
Peter's]  words,  as  fast  as  their  feet  could  carry  them." — See  "  Life  and 
Times  of  C.  J.  Fox,"  by  Earl  Russell. 


94 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


B  njamin  Franklin  was  the  son  of  a  Boston  merchant. 
He  began  life  as  an  apprentice  tohis  father's  business,  though 
it  is  said  he  was  originally  intended  for  the  ministry  in 
some  religious  persuasion.  But  the  lad  abhorred  trade,  and 
at  last  obtained  service  with  his  brother,  a  printer.  After  a 
time  he  removed  to  Philadelphia.  Here  he  was  noticed 
by  the  English  governor,  Sir  William  Keith,  and  it  is  said 
that  he  was  deceived  by  him.  Possibly  Sir  William  only 
promised  more  than  he  could  perform.  The  result  was 
Franklin's  removal  to  England  as  early  as  1725,  when  he 
entered  as  a  journeyman  in  the  well-known  and  time- 
lionoured  establishment  of  Messrs  Cox  &  Wyman.  He 
returned  again  to  America,  where  be  married  a  rich  widow, 
and  published  the  famous  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanack." 
In  1757  he  was  sent  to  England  as  a  delegate  for  Penn- 
sylvania. He  returned  once  more  to  his  native  land,  and 
iu  1764  and  in  1766  he  was  examined  at  the  bar  of  the 
English  House.  The  members  were  anxious  to  prove  that 
the  American  colonies  were  contumacious,  but  all  evidence 
goes  to  prove  that  they  were  not,  and  that  they  did  not 
desire  separation  from  England  until  they  found  that 
England  compelled  them  to  revolt.  Franklin  declared  that 
"  the  authority  of  Parliament  was  allowed  to  be  valid  in 
all  laws,  except  such  as  should  lay  internal  taxes :  that  it 
was  never  disputed  in  laying  duties  to  regulate  commerce  : 
that  the  Americans  would  never  submit  to  the  Stamp  Act, 
or  to  any  other  tax  on  the  same  principle  :  that  North 


WASHINGTON  OX  THE  COLOXTSTS. 


95 


America  would  contribute  to  the  support  of  Great  Britain, 
if  engaged  in  a  war  in  Europe." 

Washington  wrote  thus: — "Although  you  are  taught 
to  believe  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts  are  rebellious, 
setting  up  for  independency,  and  what  not,  give  me  leave, 
my  good  friend,  to  tell  you  that  you  are  abused,  grossly 
abused.  This  I  advance  with  a  degree  of  confidence  and 
boldness  which  may  claim  your  belief,  having  better  oppor- 
tunities of  knowing  the  real  sentiments  of  the  people  you 
are  amomr.  from  the  leaders  of  them,  in  opposition  to  the 
present  measures  of  Administration,  than  you  have  from 
those  whose  business  it  is,  not  to  disclose  truths,  but  to 
misrepresent  facts,  in  order  to  justify,  as  much  as  possible, 
to  the  world  their  own  conduct.  Give  me  leave  to  add,  and 
I  think  I  can  announce  it  as  a  fact,  that  it  is  not  the  wish 
or  interest  of  that  government,  or  any  other  upon  this  con- 
tinent, separately  or  collectively,  to  set  up  for  independ- 
ence ;  but  this  you  may  at  the  same  time  rely  on,  that 
none  of  them  will  ever  submit  to  the  loss  of  those  valuable 
rights  and  privileges  which  are  essential  to  the  happiness 
of  every  free  state,  and  without  which  life,  liberty,  and 
property  are  rendered  totally  insecure."1 

In  the  last  debate  of  the  Lords  attended  by  Franklin, 
March  16th,  1775,  he  heard  American  courage,  American 
religion,  American  intellect,  branded  as  cowardice,  hypo- 


1  Spark's  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  i.  p.  130. 


96       DYING  TESTIMONY  OF  LORD  CHATHAM. 


crisy,  and  dullness.  "  We  were  treated,"  lie  says,  "as  the 
lowest  of  mankind,  and  almost  of  a  different  species  from 
the  English  of  Great  Britain  ;  but  particularly  American 
honesty  was  abused  by  some  of  the  Lords,  who  asserted  thai 
we  were  all  knaves,  and  wanted  only  by  this  dispute  to 
avoid  paying  our  debts." 

An  eminent  English  writer  says : — "  On  this  occasion  a 
few  tongues  helped  to  dismember  an  empire.  Chatham's 
prophetic  eye  had  discerned  months  before  this  memorable 
debate  the  issue  of  such  zealotry.  And  in  the  month  of 
November  1776,  when  America  was  ringing  with  the  De- 
claration of  Independence,  and  England  was  exasperated  by 
what  it  considered  as  the  sin  of  witchcraft,  the  Earl,  being 
then  very  sick  at  Hayes,  and  not  expecting  to  recover, 
solemnly  charged  his  physician,  Dr  Addington,  to  bear  testi- 
mony that  he  died  with  his  opinions  respecting  America 
unchanged.  He  renewed  a  former  prediction,  that  unless 
England  changed  her  policy,  France  would  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  Americans.  France,  he  said,  only  waited  till 
England  was  more  deeply  engaged  in  this  "  ruining  war 
against  herself  in  America,  as  well  as  to  prove  how  far 
the  Americans,  abetted  by  France  indirectly  only,  may  be 
able  to  make  a  stand,  before  she  takes  an  open  part  by 
declaring  war  upon  England."2 

Every  one,  to  speak  broadly,  was  against  America; 


George  the  Third  and  Lord  North,  vol.  ii.  p.  9. 


THE  TEA- TAX. 


97 


certainly  tho?e  who  defended  her  cause  could  be  easily 
counted  ;  but  it  was  unfortunate  that  the  multitude  were 
not  a  little  more  reserved  in  their  expressions,  that  they  so 
openly  expressed  their  scorn  for,  and  depreciation  of,  an 
enemy  who  overcame  them  so  easily.3 

They  forgot  that  contempt  is  not  argument,  and  they 
forgot  also  k'  what  extraordinary  obstacles  a  small  band  of 
insurgents  may  surmount  in  the  cause  of  liberty."  4 

The  American  Congress  held  its  first  sittings  at  Phila- 
delphia on  the  4th  of  September  1774.  The  members  were 
willing  to  make  peace,  but  they  wisely  prepared  for  war. 
The  result  is  too  well  known  to  need  further  record.  The 
"  tea-tax"  was  but  the  last  attempt  to  fetter  a  people  who 


8  Johnson,  the  lexicographer,  had  a  share  in  exciting  the  popular 
feeling  also.  He  wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Taxation  no  Tyranny, " 
but  he  forgot  to  say  anything  about  the  necessity  for  justice  in  taxation. 
He  said  :  "  One  of  their  complaints  is  not  such  as  can  claim  much  com- 
miseration from  the  softest  bosom.  They  tell  us  that  we  have  ekonged 
our  conduct,  and  that  a  tax  is  now  laid  by  Parliament  on  those  which 
[sic]  were  never  taxed  by  Parliament  before.  To  this  we  think  it  may 
be  easily  answered  that  the  longer  they  have  been  spared,  the  better 
they  can  pay."  "  By  a  similar  process  of  arguing,"  observes  Mr  Daunt, 
"  Hampden  might  be  shown  to  have  been  in  arrear  for  ship-money,  and 
Prynne  for  ears." 

All  kinds  of  stories  went  the  round  in  England  on  the  subject  of 
American  incompetence,  moral  and  physical.  Farces  were  enacted  in 
the  theatres  in  which  tailors  and  cobblers  were  described  as  samples  of 
American  soldiers.  A  young  American  officer  who  was  present  on  one 
occasion,  shouted  out  from  his  box,  "  Hurrah  !  but  Britain  is  beaten  by 
tailors  and  cobblers." 

4  Speech  in  the  debates. 

G 


98  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


were  determined  to  be  free,  and  who  carried  out  their 
determination.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
signed  on  the  4th  of  July  1776,  by  Adams,  Franklin,  and 
Jefferson,  and  America  became  a  nation  and  the  home 
of  the  exiled  Celt.  To  her  and  to  them  we  say,  Esto 
peiyctua. 

Thus  we  find  America  free  at  the  birth  of  O'Connell,  and 
at  the  same  time  we  find  the  first  indications  of  a  union  in 
feeling  and  principle  between  Ireland  and  America.  It  is 
a  subject  which  ought  to  be  of  considerable  interest  to 
every  Englishman,  which  is  of  the  very  deepest  interest 
to  every  Irishman.  If  another  war  should  break  out 
between  America  and  England — and  with  the  pressure 
of  the  Irish  vote  on  American  politics,  such  an  event 
might  not  require  even  the  settlement  of  "  Alabama"  or 
any  other  claims  to  precipitate  it — there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  millions  of  expatriated  Irishmen  would  join  in  the 
conflict  with  something  more  than  ordinary  military 
ardour. 

If,  as  we  shall  presently  show,  England  was  compelled 
to  grant  some  trifling  instalments  of  justice  to  Ireland, 
when  threatened  on  all  sides  by  peril  at  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  it  would  be  but  common  prudence  on  her  part 
to  make  Ireland  forget  her  past  wrongs  and  her  present 
sorrows. 

One  of  the  things  not  generally  known,  or,  if  known,  not 
generally  considered,  in  connection  with  American  inde- 


AMERICA   APPEALS   TO  IRELAND. 


DO 


pendence,  is  the  Address  to  the  People  of  Ireland  which 
was  issued  by  Congress.  They  appeal  to  Ireland  because 
they  are  "  desirous  of  the  good  opinion  of  the  virtuous  and 
humane." 

"  We  are  desirous  of  the  good  opinion  of  the  virtuous 
and  humane.  TVe  are  peculiarly  desirous  of  furnishing 
yon  with  the  true  state  of  our  motives  and  objects,  the 
better  to  enable  you  to  judge  of  our  conduct  with  accuracy 
and  determine  the  merits  of  the  controversy  with  impar- 
tiality and  precision.  Your  Parliament  had  done  us  no 
wrong.  You  had  ever  been  friendly  to  the  rights  of  man- 
kind; and  we  acknowledge  with  pleasure  and  gratitude 
that  your  nation  has  produced  patriots  who  have  nobly 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  cause  of  humanity  and 
America/' 

Another  thing  not  generally  known,  or  not  sufficiently 
considered,  is,  that  some  of  the  leading  men  in  the  Ameri- 
can revolt  were  Irish.  Even  then  some  few  Celts  had 
found  their  way  to  the  land  in  which  they  were  to  obtain 
such  numerical  strength  at  a  future  day. 

Thompson,  the  secretary  of  Congress,  was  Irish.  He 
had  been  agitating  against  England  for  ten  years.  Frank- 
lin corresponded  with  him  frequently,  and  wrote  to  him 
from  London,  "  The  sun  of  liberty  is  set;  we  must  now 
light  up  the  candles  of  industry."  Thompson's  reply  was 
significant,  "  Be  assured  we  shall  light  up  torches  of  a  very 
different  kind." 


100 


THE  "OSTRICH-EGG." 


Montgomery  was  an  Irishman.  He  captured  Montreal 
and  'lied  before  Quebec.5 

O'Brien  was  an  Irishman,  and  commanded  in  the  first 
naval  engagement  with  England. 

On  the  2d  of  February,  Walpole  writes  to  Mann : — 
"  We  have  no  news  public  or  private ;  but  there  is  an 
ostrich-egg  laid  in  America,  where  the  Bostonians  have 
canted  three  hundred  chests  of  tea  into  the  ocean,  for 
they  will  not  drink  tea  with  our  Parliament.  .  .  .  Lord 
Chatham  tallied  of  conquering  America  in  Germany;  I 
believe  England  will  be  conquered  some  day  in  New  Eng« 
land  or  Bengal." 

•  Sse  Burns'  spirited  lines  : — 

"And  yet  what  reck  !  he  at  Quebec, 
Montgomcry-Uke  did  fa',  man, 
Wi*  sword  in  hand  before  his  bandy 
Amang  his  enemies  a',  man." 


(Tbnptcr  KJift. 


SKTBY  CA  PUBLIC  LIFE-POLITICAL  SITUATION. 
i775~I797- 

FOUTICAL  TROUBLES  IN  ENGLAND — ATTACK  ON  TUB  KINO — FONDNESS  FOR 
FIELD  SPOUTS — FEVEU — FIRST  VISIT  TO  DUBLIN — ENGLISII  POLICY  WITH 
IRELAN  D — FOUCED  ATTEMPT  AT  LEGISLATIVE  JUSTICE — CAUSES  AND 
CHARACTER  OF  TUB  1RI£H  REBELLION—  GRA  TTAN — LORD  CHARLKMONT — 
IRELAND  IN  ARMS — ALA  KM  IN  ENGLAND— WANTS  OF  IRELAND — MR  FOX— 
REPEAL  OF  ACT  VI.  GEO.  L — CAUSES  OF  THE  RUIN  OF  IRISH  LNDKPKSDEJIOT 
»— CJIOUSH  BRIBERY — ORATlAjr's  L£XT£Jl 


HAP.  893 


Jgjjnj'HE  troubles  which  were  ex- 

cj(     American    war   continued  for 
several   years.      On    the   23d  of 
October  1  7 7 . j ,  thousands  of  incen- 
diary  papers  were  dispersed,  incit- 
/Sy  ing  the  people  to  rise  and  prevent  the 

^^^J3  ^  meeting  of  Parliament.    On   this  the 

JhrJ  ffuard  was  trebled,  and  their  muskets  loaded,  and 
^jx&jodP  thirty-six  rounds  of  powder  delivered  to  them. 

^  *ae  same  ^me  PaPers?  telling  the  people  how 
CEj       we^  *ne  Court  was  prepared,  signed  by  Sir  John 
Hawkins,  Chairman  of  the  Bench  of  Westminster 


r 


Justices,  were  spread  abroad. 


6  Walpole's  Last  Journals,  vol.  i.  p.  510. 


104 


ro  LI  TIC  A  L   TROUBLES  IN  ENGLAND. 


The  king  was  fall}'  aware  of  the  danger,  and  wrote  thua 
to  Lord  North  : — 

"  Queen's  House,  October  25,  1775. 
2  min.  past  11  a.m. 

"  Lord  North, — On  the  receipt  of  your  letter  I  have  ordered 
Elliot's  regiment  to  march  from  Henley  to  Hounslow,  and  the 
Horse  and  Grenadier  Guards  to  take  up  their  horses.  These 
handbills  are  certainly  spread  to  cause  terror,  but  they  may  in  the 
timid  duke  I  saw  yesterday,  but  I  thank  God  I  am  not  of  that 
make.  I  know  what  my  duty  to  my  country  makes  me  undertake, 
and  threats  cannot  prevent  me  from  doing  that  to  the  fullest 
extent."7 

In  1779,  the  king  seemed  to  be  recovered  sufficiently  to 
see  the  possible  danger  to  English  interests  in  Ireland. 
In  a  letter  dared  Kew,  June  11,  1779,  he  says:  "  The 
present  difficulties  keep  my  mind  very  far  from  a  state  of 
ease.  ...  I  have  heard  Lord  North  frequently  drop  that 
the  advantages  to  be  gained  by  this  contest  could  never 
repay  the  expence ;  I  owne  that,  let  any  war  be  ever  so 
successful,  if  persons  will  sit  down  and  weigh  the  expences, 
they  will  find,  as  in  the  last,  that  it  has  impoverished  the 
state,  enriched  individuals,  and  perhaps  raised  the  name 


?  Correspondence,  vol.  i.  p.  20. — "  Queen's  House,  afterwards  Ihick- 
ingham  House,  was  bought  of  Sir  Charles  Sheffield  by  George  the  Third 
in  1761.  for  £21,000,  and  settled  on  Queen  Charlotte,  in  lieu  of  Somerset 
House,  by  an  Act  passed  in  1775.  Here  all  the  King's  children  were 
born,  George  the  Fourth  alone  excepted.  The  Queen's  House  was  taken 
down  in  1825  to  make  room  for  the  present  Buckingham  Palace." — Cut** 
ningham?s  Handbook  of  London,  p.  86,  2d  ed. 


LETTER   OF  GEORGE  III. 


105 


only  of  the  conquerors;  but  this  is  only  weighing  such 
events  in  the  scale  of  a  tradesman  behind  his  counter  ;  it 
is  necessary  for  those  in  the  station  it  has  pleased  Divine 
Providence  to  place  me  to  weigh  whether  expences,  though 
very  great,  are  not  sometimes  necessary  to  prevent  what 
might  be  more  ruinous  to  a  country  than  the  loss  of  money. 
The  present  contest  with  America,  I  cannot  help  seeing,  as 
the  most  serious  in  which  any  country  was  ever  engaged : 
it  contains  such  a  train  of  consequences  that  they  must  be 
examined  to  feel  its  real  weight.  Whether  the  laying  a 
tax  was  deserving  all  the  evils  that  have  arisen  from  it,  I 
should  suppose  no  man  could  alledge  [sic]  that  without 
being  thought  more  fit  for  Bedlam  than  a  seat  in  the 
Senate;  but  step  by  step  the  demands  of  America  have 
risen :  independence  is  their  object ;  that  certainly  is  one 
which  every  man  not  willing  to  sacrifice  every  object  to  a 
momentary  and  inglorious  peace  must  concurr  with  me  in 
thinking  that  this  country  can  never  submit  to  :  should 
America  succeed  in  that,  the  West  Indies  must  follow 
them,  not  independence,  but  must  for  its  own  interest  be 
dependent  on  North  America.  Ireland  would  soon  follow 
the  same  plan  and  be  a  separate  state;  then  this  island 
would  be  reduced  to  itself,  and  soon  would  be  a  poor  island 
indeed,  for,  reduced  in  her  trade,  merchants  would  retire 
with  their  wealth  to  climates  more  to  their  advantage,  and 
shoals  of  manufacturers  would  leave  this  country  for  the 
new  empire." 


108 


THE  GORDON  RIOTS. 


There  was  no  question  of  Irish  loss  or  gain,  except  in  so 
far  as  Irish  loss  or  gain  affected  English  interests,  and  it 
required  a  very  much  larger  intellect  than  that  of  George 
III.  to  see  that  these  interests  were,  or  ought  to  be,  iden- 
tical. 

About  the  same  time  the  Duke  of  Eichmond  made  a 
motion  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  which  he  said:  "  That 
in  a  moment  so  critical,  the  most  awful  this  country 
had  ever  experienced,  it  would  be  deceiving  His  Majesty 
and  the  nation  if  they  were  not  to  represent  that  the 
only  means  of  resisting  the  powerful  combination  which 
threatened  the  country  would  be  by  a  total  change  of  that 
system  which  had  involved  us  in  our  present  difficulties  in 
America,  in  Ireland,  and  at  home." 

The  Gordon  riots  took  place  in  1780,  and  lasted  from  the 
2d  of  June  until  the  9th.  Parliament  was  unable  to  meet 
during  this  commotion.  It  was  suspected  that  the  French 
were  the  instigators  of  it,  as  at  that  time  everything 
revolutionary  was  laid  to  their  charge.  The  king  wanted 
to  have  "  examples  made,"  and  told  Lord  North  he  must 
"  get  to  the  bottom  of  it."  A  difficult  task  for  that  easy- 
going minister,  who  was  scarcely  capable  of  getting  to  the 
bottom  of  anything. 

In  1783  (July  24)  the  king  expressed  a  strong  opinion 
on  the  state  of  public  affairs  by  no  means  complimentary  to 
himself  or  his  ministers  : — 

"  Undoubtedly  there  is  less  regularity  in  the  modes  of 


STATE  OF  PUBLIC  AFFAIRS. 


107 


conducting  business  in  tin's  kingdom  than  in  any  other 
European,  or  the  mode  of  calling  a  new  parliament  in 
Ireland  ought  to  have  been  so  clearly  stated  in  the 
change  of  that  constitution  that  no  room  ought  to  have 
been  left  for  doubts  as  to  the  proper  method  of  effecting 
it.  But  I  fear  folly,  not  reason,  dictated  the  measure, 
and  therefore  it  is  not  surprising  every  step  has  not  been 
well  weighed." 

In  November  he  declared  that  "  Ireland  was  in  fact  dis- 
united from  England,"  and  certainly  not  without  cause. 
The  volunteers  had  been  organised,  and  the  volunteers  were 
determined  to  have  justice  done  to  their  country,  while 
England  was  unable  to  deny  it  in  consequence  of  her  own 
personal  embarrassments. 

There  was  war  in  India  also,  and  though  this  did  not 
very  much  concern  the  nation  at  large,  till  some  few  honour- 
able men  were  roused  by  the  recital  of  the  horrible  cruelties 
practised  on  the  unhappy  natives,  it  was  not  without  its 
effect. 

The  king  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  quarrelled,  and  the 
unhappy  monarch  exhibited  the  first  symptoms  of  that 
malady  which  clouded  his  latter  years. 

In  1795  all  England  was  excited,  turbulent,  and  violent. 
The  war  had  necessitated  increased  taxation,  increased 
taxation  involved  distress,  and  distress  fell  grievously  on 
those  who  were  least  able  to  bear  it. 

Men  who  could  lose  thousands  of  pounds  in  a  game  of 


103 


PUBLIC  DISCONTENT. 


chance,  or  who  could  spend  hundreds  of  pounds  on  mere 
luxuries,  were  not  likely  to  understand  the  sharp  suf- 
ferings of  those  who  had  not  sixpence  to  spare  for  a 
luxury,  who  had  not  at  times  a  penny  to  buy  a  loaf  of 
bread.  There  were  few  who  could  even  comprehend  the 
terrible  misery  of  starvation,  and  the  terrible  agony  02 
seeing  wife  and  child  pining  away  for  want  of  common 
sustenance.8 

Those  who  suffered  thus  were  not  likely  to  make  nice 
distinctions  as  to  the  cause.  The  king  as  the  ruler  of  the 
nation  was  naturally  credited  with  being  the  origin  of  the 


8  Alison's  "  History  of  Europe,"  vol.  iii.  p.  20,  thus  describes  the  state 
of  England  : — "  The  condition  of  Great  Britain  in  the  close  of  1795  and 
the  beginning  of  1796,  was  nearly  as  distracted,  so  far  as  public  opinion 
went,  as  that  of  France.  So  violent  had  party  spirit  become,  and  so 
completely  had  it  usurped  the  place  of  patriotism  or  reason,  that  many 
of  the  popular  leaders  had  come  to  wish  anxiously  for  the  triumph  of 
their  enemies.  It  was  no  longer  a  simple  disapprobation  of  the  war 
which  they  felt,  but  a  fervent  desire  that  it  might  terminate  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  their  country,  and  that  the  Republican  might  triumph  ovei 
the  British  arms.  They  thought  that  there  was  no  chance  of  parliamen- 
tary reform  being  carried,  or  any  considerable  addition  to  democratic 
power  acquired,  unless  the  ministry  were  deposed  ;  and  to  accomplish 
this  object  they  hesitated  not  to  betray  their  wish  for  the  success  of  the  in- 
veterate enemies  of  their  country.  These  ill  humours  which  were  afloat 
during  the  whole  of  the  summer  of  1795,  broke  out  into  acts  of  open 
violence  in  the  autumn  of  that  year.  These  causes  of  discontent  were 
increased  by  the  high  price  of  provisions,  the  natural  consequence  of  the 
increased  consumption  and  enlarged  circulating  medium  required  in  the 
war,  but  which  the  lower  orders,  under  the  instigation  of  their  dema* 
gogues,  ascribed  entirely  to  the  ministry,  and  the  crusade  which  they 
had  undertaken  against  the  liberties  of  mankind." 


ATTACK  OX  THE  EIXG. 


109 


national  troubles.  The  king  it  was  supposed  could  remedy 
them,  and  did  not  do  so,  and  popular  vengeance  sought  to 
make  the  king  the  victim  of  its  indignation. 

O'Connell  was  an  eye-witness  of  this  scene,  and  when  he 
beard  hitter  reflections  made,  in  later  years,  on  the  poor 
Irish  peasant  who  attempted  the  life  of  a  landlord  who 
had  deprived  him  of  house,  home,  and  even  of  the  very 
possibility  of  labouring  for  an  existence,  it  is  little  wonder 
that  his  honest  heart  burned  with  indignation  when  men 
condemned  this,  and  lightly  passed  over  an  attempt  at 
regicide  which  certainly  had  not  the  excuse  of  being 
excited  by  actual  starvation. 

The  attack  on  the  king  was  made  on  the  29th  of  October 
1795,  as  he  was  returning  from  Parliament.  CTConnell 
went  with  a  friend  to  St  James'  Park,  little  anticipating 
the  extraordinary  scene  which  he  was  to  witness.  He  thus 
described  it  himself  to  Mr  Daunt:  "The  carriage,  sur- 
rounded by  a  noisy,  angry,  and  excited  mob,  came  moving 
Blowly  along.  Suddenly  the  glass  in  the  royal  window  was 
smashed  by  some  individual  in  the  crowd,  who,  having  read 
the  Bible,  "  rendered  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are 
Cfcesar's,"  by  flinging  a  penny  at  His  Majesty.  The  flash- 
ing sabres  of  the  dragoons  were  drawn  immediately,  the 
loud  voice  of  imperative  command  was  ringing  above  the 
tumultuous  sounds,  and  the  dragoons,  clearing  their  way 
through  the  huddled  and  scrambling  multitude  with  bran- 
dished blades  and  curveting  horses,  advanced  in  a  gallop  in 


110 


ATTACK  ON  THE  KING. 


front  of  the  king's  carriage.  As  the  procession  approached 
the  place  where  O'Connell  stood  he  pressed  forward  to  get 
a  sight  of  the  king,  when  a  dragoon  made  a  furious  slash  at 
him,  which  deeply  notched  the  tree  about  an  inch  or  two 
above  his  head.  Groans,  hootings,  and  hisses  filled  the  air, 
and  the  king's  life  seemed  in  imminent  danger ;  however,  he 
got  rid  of  his  dutiful  subjects,  and  entered  St  James's  Palace, 
where  he  took  off  his  robes  in  a  wonderfully  short  time.  He 
then  came  out  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  palace,  next 
Cleveland  Row,  and  entered  a  coach  drawn  by  two  large 
black  Hanoverian  horses.  He  was  subsequently  driven 
towards  Buckingham  House,  and  just  as  he  was  passing  the 
bottom  of  the  Green  Park,  the  mob  tumultuously  swarmed 
round  the  carriage,  seized  the  wheels,  and,  with  united 
strength  and  horrible  vociferations,  prevented  their  revolu- 
tion, though  the  postilions,  with  desperate  cuts,  rained 
showers  of  blows  on  the  straining  and  perspiring  horses. 
The  mob  seemed  intent  on  tearing  the  king  to  pieces. 
Two  fellows  at  this  moment  approached  the  carriage — the 
hand  of  one  was  on  the  door-handle  in  the  act  of  opening 
it.  Had  the  door  opened  they  would  doubtless  have  dragged 
the  king  headlong  out  and  murdered  him  on  the  spot.  At 
this  critical  juncture  a  tall  determined-looking  man  thrust 
a  pistol  through  the  opposite  window  at  the  fellows  who 
were  going  to  open  the  door ;  they  shrank  back,  the  mob 
rehxed  their  grasp  on  the  wheels,  the  postilions  flogged 
their  horses,  and  ihe  carriage  went  off  at  a  gallop  to  Buck- 


O'COXXELL'S  RETURX  TO  IRELAND.  Ill 


ingham  ITouse.  Never  had  "king  a  more  narrow  escape.  It 
was  a  terrible  806110." 

O'Connell  returned  home  soon  after,  and  some  curious 
and  characteristic  anecdotes  were  told  of  his  family  life. 
For  himself  it  is  said  that  lie  was  passionately  fond  of  field 
sports,  and  took  care  to  make  up  now  for  lost  time  by  double 
enjoyment.  No  doubt  that  hardy  constitution  which  made 
him  bear  up  under  years  of  such  mental  and  physical  toil 
as  few  men  have  ever  endured,  was  braced  and  invigorated 
by  the  fresh  Atlantic  breezes  of  his  mountain  home. 

His  son  thus  describes  him  at  this  period:  u  Often  has 
the  writer  of  these  pages  heard  him  describe,  in  his  own 
graphic  manner,  his  going  out  before  dawn,  to  ensure  that 
his  few  hounds  should  have  the  help  of  the  scent  still  lying; 
the  feelings  of  the  party  as  they  crouched  amid  the  heather, 
waiting  for  day;  the  larks  springing  all  around,  and  the 
eager  dogs  struggling  to  get  free  from  the  arms  that  re- 
strained them.  A  wager — the  only  wager  of  Mr  O'Connell's 
life — was  successfully  accomplished  by  him  with  four  of 
these  hounds  ;  namely,  the  killing  of  four  hares  in  three 
successive  days.  The  four  hounds,  in  fact,  ran  down  and 
killed  six  hares  in  those  three  days,  and  vaulted  another — 
a  feat  which  he  boasts  no  four  hounds  now  living  could 
accomplish." 

The  vice  of  hard  drinking  was  not  one  in  which  the 
future  Liberator  indulged.  He  was  temperate ;  either 
from  inclination,  or  from  being  unable  to  imbibe  the 


112 


HARD  DRINKING. 


copious  potations  which  his  companions  considered  almost 
a  necessary  of  life. 

It  is  said  that  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  break  through 
the  time-honoured  rule  that  the  door  should  be  locked  after 
dinner,  and  the  key  thrown  out  of  the  window  until  every 
guest  had  drunk  to  intoxication.9 


9  Tins  practice  was  by  no  means  confined  to  the  wilds  of  Kerry,  or  in- 
deed to  Ireland.  At  Shanes  Castle,  where  Mrs  Sid  dons  often  took  part 
in  private  theatricals,  Lord  Mountjoy  drew  up  in  joke  a  set  of  rules  for 
the  company,  which  give  an  amusing  idea  of  the  state  of  society  even  in 
the  highest  circles  : — 

"  Resolutions  formed  to  promote  regularity  at  Shanes  Castle,  at  the 
meeting  for  the  representation  of  '  GymbelineJ  Nov.  20,  1785. 
"  L  That  no  noise  be  made  during  the  forenoon,  for  fear  of  wakening 
the  company. 

"  2.  That  there  shall  be  no  breakfast  made  after  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  nor  tea  after  one  in  the  morning. 

"3.  To  inform  any  stranger  who  may  come  in  at  breakfast,  that  we 
are  not  at  dinner. 

"  4.  That  no  person  be  permitted  to  go  out  airing  after  breakfast  till 
the  moon  gets  up,  for  fear  of  being  overturned  in  the  dark. 

"  5.  That  the  respective  grooms  may  put  up  their  horses  after  foui 
hours'  parading  before  the  hall-door  of  the  Castle. 

"6.  That  there  shall  be  one  complete  hour  between  each  meal. 

"  7.  That  all  the  company  must  assemble  at  dinner  before  the  cloth  is 
removed. 

"  8.  That  supper  may  not  be  called  for  till  five  minutes  after  the  last 
glass  of  claret. 

"  9.  That  no  gentleman  be  permitted  to  drink  more  than  three  bottlea 
of  hock  at  or  after  supper. 

"  10.  That  all  M.P.'s  shall  assemble  on  post-days  in  the  coffee-room 
at  four  o'clock  to  frank  letters." — Cornwallis'  Correspondence,  vol.  ii.  p. 
349.  The  free  and  easy  style  of  living  is  as  manifest  from  Rule  2,  as 
the  genial  and  general  hospitality  by  Rule  5. 


CO  U SIX  KANE. 


113 


O'ConnelFs  favourite  place  in  bis  uncle's  house  was  the 
sideboard,  where  he  found  more  freedom  to  indulge  his  jokes, 
and  more  liberty  to  come  aud  go  as  he  pleased. 

A  certain  "Cousin  Kane,"  who  enjoyed  "  free  quar- 
ters '  whenever  he  could  get  them — and  when  was  hospi- 
tality ever  refused  in  the  "  Green  Island?'1 — was  one  of 
the  county  characters.  Cousin  Kane  had  that  charming 
facility  of  accommodation  which  satisfied  itself  every- 
where, at  least  fur  a  time ;  and  with  his  two  horses  and  his 
twelve  dogs,  he  quartered  himself  from  week  to  week,  now 
in  one  house  and  now  in  another,  where  he  could,  or  said 
he  could  claim  kin.  Yet  Cousin  Kane's  disposition  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  improved  by  his  travels,  for  it  is  said  that 
on  one  occasion  there  were  seventy-six  actions  for  assault 
and  battery  pending  again.it  him  at  the  Tralee  assizes. 
O'Connell  offended  him  once  by  giving  him  whisky  instead 
of  sherry  in  mistake.  Kane  drank  the  whisky  at  a  draught, 
and  then  commenced  vituperating  his  young  cousin,  con- 
cluding his  harangue  by  roaring  in  a  tone  of  thunder,  "Fill 
it  again,  sir !  " 

On  the  following  morning,  Kane  got  np  at  two  o'clock 
and  wakened  O'Connell  by  his  noise.  "What  are  you 
about  ?"  said  O'Connell,  "  the  clock  has  only  struck  two." 
"Do  you  think  I  am  to  be  a  slave  to  that  lying  devil  cf 
a  clock  ye  have  there?  "  raved  Kane.  "  Do  you  think  a 
gentleman  like  me  is  to  be  ruled  and  governed  by  a  black- 
guard of  a  clock  like  that — eh  ?    For  what  would  I  stay  in 

TT 


ATTACK  OF  FEVER. 


bed  if  it  struck  twenty-two  when  I  cannot  sleep  ?  "  Mani- 
festly "  Cousin  Kane  "  would  have  been  an  ardent  admirer 
of  rule  number  four  of  the  Shanes  Castle  code. 

In  1798,  after  O'Connell  had  been  called  to  the  bar,  and 
before  he  went  bis  first  circuit,  his  life  was  despaired  of,  in 
consequence  of  bis  baving  taken  a  violent  chill,  which 
resulted  in  fever.  His  own  eagerness  in  the  cbase  was  the 
immediate  cause  of  this  malady.  His  son  thus  records  the 
circumstances,  as  related  by  his  father  : — • 

"  Eagerness  in  the  pursuit  of  this  amusement  bad  nearly 
cost  him  bis  life  in  the  eventful  year  1798 — the  same  in 
which  he  was  called  to  tbe  bar.  After  the  latter  occur- 
rence, wbich  took  place  May  19,  and  before  his  first  circuit, 
he  proceeded,  in  August,  to  Darrynane ;  and  there,  from  a 
young  man's  imprudence  in  allowing  wet  clothes  to  dry 
on  him  while  he  slept  before  a  peasant's  fire  after  a  hard 
morning's  hunting,  was,  after  the  further  imprudence  of 
attempting,  during  a  fortnight,  to  fight  off  the  fierce 
assailant,  prostrated  by  a  most  severe  and  dangerous  typhus 
fever.  Early  in  the  disorder,  he  obtained  a  full  conscious- 
ness of  his  danger,  and  retained  that  consciousness  in  the 
intervals  of  the  fits  of  delirium,  which  came  upon  him 
violently  and  frequently.  Whenever  the  mind  was  able  to 
assert  its  self-control,  his  most  constant  and  bitterest 
thought  was,  that  he  was  about  to  die,  without  having  been 
able  to  gratify  the  instinctive  and  innate  feeling  which 
from  infancy  had  been  uppermost  in  his  mind — the  feeling 


FAVOURABLE  CRISIS. 


of  craving,  that  it  might  be  his  lot  to  do  something-  for 
Ireland  ;  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that,  in  his  ravings,  he 
was  constantly  heard  repeating  the  following  lines  from 
the  tragedy  of  Douglas  : — 

1  Unknown,  I  die  ;  no  tongue  shall  speak  of  me: 
Some  noble  spirits,  judging  by  themselves, 
May  yet  conjecture  what  I  might  have  proved, 
And  think  lite  only  wanting  to  my  fame  ! ' 

"  An  affecting  incident  marked  the  turn  of  the  disorder. 
When,  as  he  felt  himself,  and  as  he  appeared  to  others,  he 
was  falling  into  his  agony,  his  head  had  slipped  from  the 
pillow,  and  death  would  have  been  accelerated  by  the 
position,  a  cousin  of  his,  who  was  present,  raised  him  and 
supported  him  in  her  arms.  While  for  a  moment  revived 
by  this,  his  father  came  to  the  bedside,  and,  after  contem- 
plating him  for  a  moment  with  agonised  feelings,  addressed 
him  with  6  Dan,  don't  you  know  me?'  As  with  the  last 
effort  of  nature,  the  son  pressed  the  father's  hand,  in  token 
of  affectionate  recognition  ;  and,  with  the  effort,  the  fell 
di-ease,  that  had  so  long  been  triumphant,  seemed  to  be, 
for  the  first  time,  arrested — the  crisis  arrived,  twenty-four 
hours'  tfleep  followed,  and  thenceforth  began,  and  steadily 
continued,  the  restoration  of  health." 

During  the  same  illness,  Napoleon's  successful  march  to 
Alexandria  was  mentioned  in  his  presence.  The  acute 
mind,  which  at  once  grasped  the  impossibilities,  as  well  as 
the  possibilities  of  any  plan,  political  or  social,  at  one* 


FIRST   VISIT  TO  DUBLIN. 


asserted  itself.  "  6  That  is  impossible/  said  the  patient; 
i  lie  cannot  have  done  so — they  would  have  been  starved.' 
'Oh,  no,'  replied  the  doctor;  '  they  bad  a  quantity  of 
portable  soup,  sufficient  to  feed  the  army  for  four  days.' 
4  Ay,'  replied  O'Connell,  6  but  had  they  portable  water? 
For  their  portable  soup  would  be  of  little  use  without  the 
water  to  dissolve  it.'  The  medical  gentleman,  glancing 
hopefully  at  the  mother,  said,  in  a  low  and  satisfied  tone, 
4  His  intellect  at  any  rate  is  untouched.'  " 

O'Connell  went  to  Dublin  in  the  year  1797,  probably 
with  a  view  to  further  preparation  for  being  called  to  the 
bar,  possibly  with  the  intention  of  making  friends  who 
might  serve  him  in  his  new  career.  It  would  appear  to 
have  been  his  first  visit  to  the  Irish  metropolis; — under  how 
many  different  phases  he  must  have  seen  it  afterwards, 
under  how  many  different  circumstances  he  must  have 
entered  it !  He  had  witnessed  the  assembling  of  an  Eng- 
lish parliament,  he  has  now  to  witness  the  last  debates  of 
the  Irish  house.  In  England  he  had  heard  Pitt,  and  Fox, 
and  Burke  ;l  in  Dublin,  he  heard  Grattan  and  Flood. 

In  England  he  had  seen  the  king  attacked  in  open  da} 


1  He  spoke  for  the  last  time  on  the  20th  of  June  1794  His  brothel 
Richard  died  during  this  year,  and  his  death  inflicted  a  deep  blow  on 
the  sensitive  heart  of  the  great  Irishman.  "Dick"  was  indeed  a  uni- 
versal favourite.  Every  one  loved  him  in  the  Ballitore  Quaker  school, 
where  he  waa  educated  ;  and  if  he  was  "  wished  full  ten  times  a  day  at 
old  Nick,"  not  indeed  by  his  friends,  who  would  scarcely  pardon  such 


CA  USES  OF  THE  REBELLION. 


117 


by  liis  own  subjects,  and  only  saved  from  an  instant  and 
terrible  deatli  by  a  military  escort.  In  Ireland  lie  was  to 
be  a  witness  tc  secret  rebellion,  and  even  to  be  personally 
compromised  in  it. 

The  state  of  Ireland  at  that  period  was  certainly  alarm- 
ing, and  has  been  unfortunately  but  too  little  understood. 

The  broad  outlines  of  contemporary  history  are  indeed 
familiar  tv,  all  educated  persons.  The  manner  in  which  the 
Irish  rebellion  was — shall  we  say  encouraged,  or  excited 
by  English  statesmen  ? — is  admitted,  because  it  cannot  be 
denied,  by  some  English  historians  ;  the  fraud  and  force  by 
which  the  Union  was  effected  is  known  equally  well,  but  not, 
perhaps,  generally  believed.  Nevertheless  the  real  causes 
and  the  real  effects  of  the  rebellion  and  of  the  Union  have 
scarcely  met  with  the  consideration  they  deserve,  though 
the  subject  is  one  which  deserves  and  would  repay  a  careful 
study. 

Lord  Townsend's  administration  had  thoroughly  debased 
the  Irish  parliament.  It  has  been  taken  for  granted, 
because  the  Irish  Parliament  was  composed  of  persons  who 


profanity,  but  by  the  poet  who  sings  his  praise,  he  was  as  surely  wished 
back  agaj&. 

"  "What  spirits  were  his,  what  art  and  what  whim, 
Now  breaking  a  jest  and  now  breaking  a  limb  ! 

In  short,  so  ]  eculiar  a  devil  was  Dick, 

That  we  wished  him  well  ten  times  a  day  at  old  Nick, 

Eut  missing  his  mirth  and  agreeable  vein, 

As  often  we  wished  to  have  Dick  back  again." 


118 


THE  IRISH  PARLIAMENT. 


lived,  at  least,  part  of  their  lives  in  Ireland,  that  it  repre^ 
rented  Irish  feeling.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  there  were  a 
few  men  in  it  from  time  to  time  who  were  incorruptible 
and  independent,  who  had  Irish  interests,  and  who  would 
make  sacrifices  for  them ;  but  the  great  majority  had  no 
interest  in  Ireland.  It  was  indeed  the  country  from 
whence  they  drew  their  rents,  and  which  supplied  them 
with  their  income,  but  they  were  aliens  from  the  people  in 
religion  and  in  affection. 

English  interest  was  still  the  ruling  motive  of  every 
enactment  of  this  so-called  Irish  Parliament ;  and  yet, 
because  the  Parliament  was  Irish,  because  it  had  an  Irish 
element  in  it,  Ireland  prospered  during  its  later  years,  as 
Ireland  had  never  prospered  before. 

Still  the  one  fatal  policy  prevailed,  and  the  one  fatal 
principle  was  carried  out.  Ireland  was  not  treated  as  an 
integral  part  of  the  British  Empire.  Her  interests  were 
not  even  considered  for  a  moment,  and  if  they  were  con- 
sidered, it  was  only  that  they  might  be  treated  as  some- 
thing absolutely  inimical  to  English  prosperity.  It  was  a 
curious  policy,  it  was  an  unwise  policy,  it  was  a  fatal  policy. 
If  one-half  the  money  which  was  spent  in  repressing  Trish 
rebellions  had  been  spent  in  promoting  Irish  industry, 
there  would  have  been  no  rebellions  to  repress,  and  Eng- 
land might  have  enriched  herself,  instead  of  adding  a  heavy 
item  to  her  national  debt,  and  throwing  an  additional 
weight  of  obloquy  on  her  national  character. 


CHARLES  I.   AXD  HIS  IRISH  SUBJECTS.  119 


But  in  considering  this  period  of  Irish  history,  Irishmen 
have  sometimes  forgotten  that  the  English  House  of  Com- 
mons was  quite  as  venal  as  that  which  sat  in  Dublin.  The 
English  nation  had  been  for  years,  indeed  since  the  very 
first  hour  of  its  intercourse  with  Ireland,  educated  and 
imbued  with  an  anti-Irish  feeling.  Even  Charles  L  dared 
not  repeal  Povning's  Act,  though,  by  so  doing,  he  had  at 
least  a  chance  of  saving  himself  from  his  English  subjects 
by  conciliating  his  Irish  subjects.  He  took  in  the  full 
extent  of  his  position.  The  Irish  were  Irish  aud  nothing 
more.  He  may  not,  indeed,  have  deliberately  selected  to 
be  murdered  by  his  English  subjects  in  preference  to  being 
defended  by  his  Irish  subjects  ;  but  undoubtedly  he  weighed 
the  matter  carefully,  and  practically  he  concluded  that, 
though  the  Irish  might  be  his  faithful  subjects,  they  were 
very  powerless  to  protect  him  against  his  rebellious  sub- 
jects, while  there  was  not  one  but  thousands  of  Crom- 
wells  in  England.  Charles  L  was  right ;  he  might  be 
spared  by  these  blood-thirsty  men,  but  if  he  sought  protec- 
tion from  his  Irish  subjects,  these  men  would  effect  their 
end  sooner  or  later,  and  involve  him  and  his  defenders  in 
one  common  ruin. 

The  conditions  of  Irish  political  life  before  the  close  01 
the  last  century  were  sufficiently  ominous,  but  the  condi- 
tions at  the  close  of  that  century  are  without  parallel  in  the 
annals  of  history. 

The  American  war,  or  rather  the  evident  probability  that 


120 


GOVERNMENT  MEN. 


the  American  war  would  be  successful,  first  roused  up  the 
English  mind  to  the  necessity,  for  its  own  sake,  of  doing 
something  for  Ireland.  The  problem  then  became  how  to 
do  as  little  as  possible ;  unwillingness  to  do  that  little  made 
it  be  done  as  ungraciously  as  possible.  When  you  fling 
a  trifling  alms  to  a  relation  whom  you  have  systematically 
defrauded,  because  you  fear  he  may  now  have  it  in  his 
power  to  retaliate,  you  can  scarcely  expect  him  to  over- 
whelm you  with  gratitude,  or  to  forget  past  wrongs.  Yet 
the  Irish  are  constantly  reproached  with  being  the  most 
ungrateful  people  on  the  earth  because  they  do  not  go  into 
ecstasies  of  thankfulness  for  the  smallest  instalment  of 
justice.  Neither  individuals  nor  nations  are  to  be  respected 
who  sacrifice  their  personal  dignity. 

The  American  war  thus  created  a  necessity  for  justice, 
and  on  the  10th  of  November  1773,  leave  was  given  to 
bring  in  a  bill  to  secure  the  repayment  of  money  that 
should  be  lent  by  Papists  to  Protestants  on  mortgages  of 
land,  and  to  show  the  extra  condescension  of  this  act  of 
very  accurate  legal  justice,  of  justice  which  one  might 
suppose  could  not  be  denied  by  one  man  to  another,  the 
bill  was  brought  in  by  Mr  Mason,  Sir  Lucius  O'Brien,  and 
Mr  Langrishe,  who  were  "  government  men." 

It  might  be  supposed  that  any  body  of  educated  men 
would  pass  the  bill,  but  it  was  not  passed. 

Leave  was  also  given  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  allow  Papists  to 
take  leases  of  houses  and  of  lands.    It  might  be  supposed 


CATHOLICS  BRITISH  SUBJECTS. 


121 


that  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  such  a  hill  would 
certainly  pass.    It  was  rejected  also.* 

American  affairs  began  to  look  still  more  threatening, 
and  on  the  oth  of  March  1774,  leave  was  given  to  Lri:._  in 
a  bill  to  permit  Catholic  subjects  to  testify  their  allegiance 
to  their  sovereign.  This  bill  was  passed,  and  the  Irish 
historian  Plowden  says :  "  It  gratified  the  Catholics,  inas- 
much as  it  was  a  formal  recognition  that  they  were  sub- 
ject?, and  to  this  recognition  they  looked  up  as  to  the  corner- 
stone of  their  future  emancipation. " 

Emigration  to  America  had  already  begun.  Had  there 
been  greater  facilities  the  emigration  would  have  been 
greater.  What  indeed  were  men  to  do  who  were  neither 
allowed  to  live  nor  to  labour,  and  who  were  noc  recognised 
even  as  subjects  until  now — who  were,  even  after  this 
pitiful  recognition,  treated  virtually  as  rebels  even  in  time 
of  peace  ?  3 

*  The  animus  which  existed  in  all  classes  of  Engli sh  is  strongly  shuwn 
in  some  of  George  III.'s  letters.  He  writes  thus  to  Lord  North  on  March 
29,  1776 :  "  I  have,  both  in  the  times  of  Lord  Hertford  and  of  Lord 
Townshend,  declined  making  Irish  marquises,  and  I  have  not  in  the 
lea3t  changed  my  opinion  on  that  subject,  I  am  heartily  sick  of  Lord 
Harcouii  s  mode  of  trying  step  by  step  to  draw  me  to  fulfil  his  absurd 
requests.  I  desire  I  may  hear  no  more  of  Irish  marquises  ;  I  feel  for 
the  English  earls,  and  do  not  choose  to  disgust  them.'' — Correspondence 
of  Georye  111.,  voL  iL  p.  16.  It  was  the  same  principle  of  making  a  dis- 
tinction betweer.  English  and  Irish  subjects  which  made  James  L  cry 
out.  "  Spare  my  English  subjects,"  when  the  Irish  were  fighting  for  him 
to  the  death. 

3  We  find  George  IIL  writing  in  a  specially  contemptuous  Style  of  nil 


122     THE  REBELLION  A  PROTESTANT  MOVEMENT 


How  completely  the  rebellion  of  1798  was  a  Protestant 
movement  has  never  been  clearly  understood.  It  is  true, 
indeed,  the  great  mass  of  those  who  rose  were  Catholics, 
but  that  was  simply  because  the  Catholics  formed  an  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  population.  The  leaders  were 
Protestants ;  and  how  this  came  about  we  shall  proceed  to 
show. 

Trade  was  permitted  spasmodically  in  the  north  of 
Ireland,  because  the  people  in  the  north  of  Ireland  were 
principally  Protestants,  and  were  many  of  them  of  Scotch 
and  French  descent.  But  this  by  no  means  saved  them 
from  the  ill-judged,  miserable  policy  of  their  English  rulers. 
The  volunteer  movement  began  in  Belfast,  and  Cork,  which 


American  subjects,  until  they  proclaimed  their  independence.  In  a 
letter  dated  July  4,  1774,  lie  writes  very  boldly  of  "compulsion;'''  the 
English  "  lyons  "  however  got  the  worst  of  it  : — "  Since  you  left  me  this 
day,  I  have  seen  Lieutenant-General  Gage,  who  came  to  express  bis 
readiness,  though  so  lately  come  from  America,  to  return  at  a  day'a 
notice,  if  the  conduct  of  the  Colonies  should  induce  the  directing  coercive 
measures.  His  language  was  very  consonant  to  his  character  of  an 
honest  determined  man.  He  says  they  will  be  lyons  whilst  we  are 
lambs  ;  but,  if  we  take  the  resolute  part,  they  will  undoubtedly  prove 
very  meek.  He  thinks  the  four  regiments  intended  to  relieve  as  many 
regiments  in  America,  if  sent  to  Boston,  are  sufficient  to  prevent  any  dis- 
turbance. I  wish  you  would  see  him,  and  hear  his  ideas  as  to  the  mode 
of  compelling  Boston  to  submit  to  whatever  may  be  thought  necessary  ; 
indeed,  all  men  seem  now  to  feel  that  the  fatal  compliance  in  1766  has 
encouraged  the  Americans  annually  to  increase  in  their  pretensions  to 
that  thorough  independency  which  one  state  has  of  another,  but  which 
is  quite  subversive  of  the  obedience  which  a  colony  owes  to  its  mothe* 
country." — Correspondence,  vol.  i.  p.  36. 


JEALOUSY  OF  IRISH  TRADE. 


123 


was  then  an  ukra-Protestant  city,  supplied  two  of  the  lead* 
ing  spirits  of  the  rebellion  in  the  persons  of  the  Shearses. 

BotiiCurk  and  Belfast  suflfered  most  severely  from  English 
law=,  made  to  restrain,  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  to  ruin 
Irish  trade.* 


*  Sir  William  Temple  wrote  thus  in  1673  :  <;  Regard  must  be  had  to 
those  points  wherein  the  trade  of  Ireland  comes  to  interfere  with  that  of 
England,  in  which  case  the  Irish  trade  ought  to  be  declined,  so  as  to  give 
way  to  the  trade  of  England." 

A  pamphlet  on  trade,  published  in  London.  1727,  apologises  for  op- 
posing what  it  states  as  u  the  universally  received  opinion  that  it  were 
better  for  England  if  Ireland  were  no  more  !  "  And  the  writer  grounds 
this  opposition  on  his  conviction  that  such  are  Ireland's  natural  advan- 
tages for  commerce,  that  her  trade  would  increase  greatly  if  the  restric- 
tions then  existing  were  taken  off ;  and  the  consequence  would  be,  that 
"the  drafts  of  England  upon  her  would  be  increased,  and  the  greater  part 
of  Ireland's  gains  by  trade  would  centre  in  England ! 9 

Anderson,  in  his  k*  History  of  Commerce."  openly  declares  the  English 
jealousy  of  Irish  commercial  enterprise.  Coonibe,  who  continued  An- 
derson's work,  comments  with  rather  too  considerate,  but  still  a  decided 
tone  of  censure,  on  the  oppressive  and  tyrannous  line  of  conduct  adopted 
in  consequence  of  that  jealousy. 

Arthur  Young,  in  1776,  wrote  thus  :  "  British  legislation,  on  all  oc- 
casions, controlled  Irish  commerce  with  a  very  high  hand — universaLy 
on  the  principle  of  monopoly,  as  if  the  poverty  of  Ireland  were  her 
wealth 

Pitt  in  1735  bore  the  same  testimony  ;  and  again  in  1799.  On  the 
latter  occasion,  he  said  :  "  Ireland  long  felt  the  narrow  policy  of  Great 
Britain,  who,  influenced  by  views  of  commercial  advantage,  and  stained 
with  selfish  motives,  never  looked  on  her  prosperity  as  that  of  the  empire 
at  large." 

Mr  Huskissou,  in  1S25,  added  his  testimony  to  the  same  effect : — 
u  Till  1780  the  agriculture,  internal  industry,  manufactures,  commerce, 
and  navigation  of  Ireland,  were  held  in  the  most  rigid  subserviency  to 
the  supposed  interests  of  Great  Britain.    In  1776  there  was  a  proposal  zq 


124 


THE   VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT. 


In  1759  the  Belfast  people  were  obliged  to  arm  them- 
selves in  self-defence,  and  the  English  Government  was 
obliged  to  permit,  and  even  to  encourage  this  movement,  to 
prevent  the  French  landing  in  Ireland.  Three  companies 
of  volunteers  were  formed,  and  the  spirit  of  the  Irish  was 
roused  for  the  first  time  during  the  past  half  century. 
Volunteer  companies  started  up  everywhere,  but  this  ar« 
rangement  did  not  suit  the  English  Government.  It  is 
true,  indeed,  that  these  volunteers  were  all  Protestants,  but 
Protestants  were  quite  as  likely  to  use  their  arms  against 
oppression  as  Catholics,  and  even  more  so.  The  Lord- 
Lieutenant  was  requested  to  put  down  the  movement,  but 
it  was  not  easy  to  do  so. 

In  1779,  when  Protestant  discontent  became  still  more 
formidable,  the  Lord-Lieutenant  wrote  to  Lord  Weymouth 
on  this  subject  :— 

"The  seizing  their  arms  would,  therefore,  be  a  violent  expedient; 
and  the  preventing  them  from  assembling,  without  a  military 
force,  impracticable  ;  for  when  the  civil  magistrate  will  rarely 
attempt  to  seize  an  offender  suspected  of  the  most  enormous 
crimes,  and  when  convicted,  convey  him  to  the  place  of  execution 
without  soldiers, — nay,  when,  in  many  instances,  persons  cannot 


let  her  import  sugar  direct,  and  export  all  but  woollens,  to  pay  for  it ; 
and  this  proposal  was  almost  made  a  question  of  allegiance  by  the  great 
towns  of  Great  Britain,  and  so  lost !  But  towards  the  close  of  that  year 
the  disasters  in  America,  and  the  state  of  things  in  Ireland,  produced  a 
different  feeling  in  the  British  Parliament.  State  necessities,  acting  under 
a  sense  of  political  danger,  yielded,  without  grace,  that  which  good  sens* 
and  goodfieling  had  before  recommended  in  vain  1" 


IRISH  GRIEVAXCES. 


125 


be  put  into  possession  of  their  property,  nor,  being  possessed, 
maintain  it  without  such  assistance, — there  is  little  presumption 
in  asserting  that  unless  bodies  of  troops  be  universally  dispersed, 
nothing  can  be  done  to  effect." 

Nevertheless  the  Irish  Protestants  were  so  infatuated, 
or  so  ignorant,  as  not  to  see  that  their  true  interest  lay  in 
union  with  the  Catholics,  that  a  nation  divided  against 
itself  could  no  more  prosper  than  a  divided  family. 

In  May  1778,  a  hill  was  brought  in  to  permit  Catholics 
to  hold  land,  and  was  fiercely  petitioned  against  by  the 
Protestant  party.  It  was  necessary,  however,  for  Govern- 
ment to  conciliate  the  Catholics,  so  the  bill  passed  by  a 
small  majority.  But  nothing  was  done  for  the  benefit  of 
trade.  Poverty  and  destitution  reigned  supreme.  Ireland 
was  forbidden  commerce,  was  obliged  to  pay  tithes  to  a 
Church  which  she  abhorred,  and  to  support  the  priests  of 
her  own  religion.  She  was  compelled  to  pay  taxes  for 
the  maintenance  of  a  military  force  to  compel  her  to  remain 
silent  under  her  cruel  wrongs,  and  to  support  an  army  for 
the  subjugation  of  the  only  country  from  which  she  had  any 
hope  of  redress. 

England  began  to  be  alarmed.  There  were  certainly 
6ome  few  men  of  the  realm  with  sufficient  common  sense  to 
gee  the  fatuity  of  the  present  course  of  Irish  government ; 
amongst  the  number  were  Lord  Newhaven  and  the  Marquis 
of  Rockingham. 

Lord  Temple,  who  held  the  unenviable  post  of  Lord-Lieu- 


126 


"FREE  TRADE— OR  THIS." 


tenant  in  Ireland,  proposed  a  committee  to  inquire  into  the 
distress  of  the  nation.  Bat  the  nation  was  tired  of  pro- 
mises, and  on  the  4th  of  November  1778,  the  volunteers 
paraded  Dublin.  They  had  two  field-pieces  with  them,  and 
bearing  a  significant  inscription — 

"  Free  Trade — or  this." 

The  result  was  that  an  act  allowing  free  trade  between 
Ireland  and  the  British  Colonies  received  the  royal  assent 
on  the  24th  of  July  1780. 

This  concession  was  obtained  merely  by  the  physical  force 
argument  of  the  volunteers.  On  the  24th  of  November 
1779,  Grattan  moved  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  it  was 
then  inexpedient  to  grant  new  taxes.  Ireland  was  plunged 
in  the  deepest  and  most  abject  poverty  through  no  fault  of 
her  own,  and  England  asked  new  subsidies  from  this  nation 
which  she  had  herself  deprived  of  all  means  of  enrichment! 

The  motion  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  over  one  hundred; 
and  on  the  following  day  the  opposition  resolved,  by  a 
majority  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  to  one  hundred, 
that  the  new  duties  should  be  for  six  months  only.  Dar- 
ing the  debate,  when  Mr  Brough  the  prime  serjeant  ex- 
claimed, "  Talk  not  to  me  of  peace.  Ireland  is  not  in  a 
state  of  peace,  it  is>  smothered  over," — the  house,  thrilled  io 
the  core,  rose  in  a  body  to  cheer  him.5    Certainly  there  was 


6  Life  of  Grattan,  vol.  i.  ch.  17  ;  Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  George  III. 


G  RATTAN, 


127 


some  public  spirit  in  Ireland  then,  and  the  man  who 
evoked  that  spirit,  who  gave  it  body  and  active  life,  was 
Grattan. 

His  lather  had  been  recorder  of  Dublin  for  many  years, 
and  he  was  therefore  initiated  into  Irish  politics  from  his 
very  childhood.  He  was  endowed  by  nature  with  great 
gifts  of  eloquence,  and  with  that  noble  spirit  of  justice 
without  which  eloquence  is  a  curse,  for  it  only  leads  men, 
not  indeed  to  admire,  but  to  practise  tyranny.  During  his 
early  life  he  spent  much  of  his  time  at  Marley  Abbey,  the 
residence  of  his  uncle,  where  he  learned  to  admire  the  writ- 
ings of  Swift,  and  in  some  degree  imbibed  their  spirit. 

Grattan  entered  Parliament  as  member  for  Lord  Chavie 
mont's  borough  of  Charlemont,  situated  on  the  borders  of 
Armagh  and  Tyrone.  He  was  then  in  his  thirtieth  year. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  electoral  intimidation  in  the  pre- 
sent age,  of  close  or  open,  of  rotten  or  honest,  of  saleable  or 
unsaleable  boroughs,  there  is  nothing  even  faintly  approach- 
ing the  state  of  parliamentary  representation  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  process  of  election  was  simple, 
juid,  after  all,  it  had  the  merit  of  simplicity.  The  lord  of  the 
soil  was  the  lord  of  the  tenants  parliamentary  conscience. 
There  was  no  doubt  about  the  matter — no  question  about 
the  matter.  He  sent  down  the  candidate  of  his  choice  ; 
whether  that  choice  was  directed  by  political  or  pecuniary 
motives,  mattered  little.  It  was  nothing  to  the  free  and 
independent  electors  certainly.    They  knew  their  duty,  and 


f.28 


"NO   IRISH  NEED  APPLY." 


they  did  it.  If  the}'  failed  God  might  help  them,  but  there 
was  no  help  from  man. 

To  have  granted  the  lord  of  the  soil  the  unlimited  right 
of  returning  a  member  for  his  borough,  would  have  saved  a 
good  deal  of  trouble,  a  good  deal  of  expense,  and  a  good 
deal  of  bitterness,  but  the  arrangement  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  thought  of,  and  certainly  it  would  have  looked 
unconstitutional.  After  all  there  is  nothing  like  making  a 
sham  look  legal  and  respectable.  Men  like  Grattan  got 
into  Parliament  now  and  then,  when  there  were  men  like 
Lord  Charlemont  to  nominate  them ;  but  there  were  not 
many  Lord  Charlemonts  in  Ireland,  and  certainly  there 
were  not  many  Grattans. 

Lord  Charlemont's  conversion  to  Irish  nationality,  such 
as  it  was,  arose  from  an  open  expression  of  English  con- 
tempt for  Irish  peeresses.  The  whole  affair  is  curious  and 
instructive. 

A  grand  procession  of  peers  and  peeresses  was  arranged 
to  meet  the  unfortunate  Princess  Caroline,  but,  before  the 
Princess  landed,  the  Duchess  of  Bedford  was  commanded  to 
inform  the  Irish  peeresses  that  they  were  neither  to  walk 
nor  take  any  part  in  the  procession.  It  was  carrying  out 
the  trite  saying,  "  No  Irish  need  apply,"  in  high  life. 

This  might  be  done  with  impunity  and  with  approbation 
where  the  lower  classes  of  Irish  were  concerned,  but  the 
peeresses  resented  it.  Lord  Charlemont  had  spent  seven 
years  abroad,  and  was  not  accustomed  to  the  unedifying 


LORD  CH  A  RL  EM  ON  T. 


129 


spectacle  of  a  nation  divided  against  itself — of  one  half 
of  the  body  politic  despising  the  other  half.  He  warmly 
resented  the  insult,  and  by  his  efforts  obtained  a  reversal  of 
the  order.  But  he  did  not  forget  it.  For  a  time  at  least 
he  took  part  with  the  oppressed  nation  to  which  he  be- 
longed, but  it  was  only  for  a  time.  The  tide  of  public 
opinion  in  his  own  rank  in  life  set  strongly  against  him. 
Neither  Ireland  nor  Irish  politics  were  fashionable.  It  was 
well  to  be  a  peer  certainly,  even  though  he  might  be  an 
Irish  peer;  but  the  less  Irish  he  appeared,  the  more  he  would 
be  respected  by  his  fellows.  What  indeed  were  popular 
laudations  in  comparison  with  the  approbation  of  his  own 
immediate  circle  ? 

On  the  27th  of  March  17S2,  Charles  Sheridan  wrote 
thus  to  his  brother  Richard : — 

"  As  to  our  politics  here,  I  send  you  a  newspaper  ;  read  the 
resolutions  of  the  volunteers,  and  you  will  be  enabled  to  form 
some  idea  of  the  spirit  which  pervades  the  country.  A  declara- 
tion of  the  dependency  of  our  Parliament  upon  yours  will  cer- 
tainly pass  our  House  of  Commons  immediately  after  the  recess. 
Government  here  dare  not,  cannot  oppose  it :  you  will  see  the 
volunteers  have  pledged  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  support  of  the 
measure,  the  grand  juries  of  every  county  have  followed  their 
example,  and  some  of  the  staunchest  friends  of  Government  have 
been,  much  against  their  inclination,  compelled  to  sign  the  most 
epirited  resolutions.'' 6 

The  volunteer  movement,  as  we  have  said,  began  in 


6  Life  of  G  rattan,  vol.  ii.  p.  214. 

I 


130 


SPIRIT  OF  THE  VOLUNTEERS. 


Belfast;  when  the  necessity  was  over,  the  corps  were  dis- 
banded; but  they  refused  in  1778,  when  there  were  again 
reports  and  fears  of  a  French  invasion. 

Id  January  1779,  Lord  Charlemont  assumed  the  com- 
mand of  the  Armagh  volunteers.  The  Government  did  not 
like  it.  They  had  a  choice  of  evils.  Protection  against  a 
foreign  foe  was  needed,  but  there  were  grave  fears  lest  the 
protectors  against  a  foreign  foe  might  turn  out  domestic 
enemies.  The  English  were  thoroughly  aware  of  the  state 
of  Irish  feeling,  though  they  took  no  pains  to  reconcile  it. 

In  May  1779,  Lord  Rockingham  wrote  thus  to  Lord 

Weymouth  :— 

"  Upon  receiving  official  intimation  that  the  enemy  meditated 
an  attack  upon  the  northern  parts  of  Ireland,  the  inhabitants  of 
Belfast  and  Carrickfergus,  as  Government  could  not  immediately 
afford  a  greater  force  for  their  protection  than  about  sixty  troopers, 
armed  themselves,  and  by  degrees  formed  themselves  into  two  or 
three  companies  ;  the  spirit  diffused  itself  into  different  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  and  the  numbers  became  considerable,  but  in  no 
degree  to  the  amount  represented.  Discouragement  has,  however, 
been  given  on  my  part,  as  far  as  might  be  without  offence,  at  a  crisis 
when  the  arm  and  good-will  of  every  individual  might  have  been 
wanting  for  the  defence  of  the  state." 

The  volunteers  were  in  fact  working  up  the  country  with 
a  steady  energy,  with  a  quiet  determination,  that  must  have 
been  terribly  embarrassing  to  the  Government.  Those 
who  thought  at  all,  who  looked  ever  so  little  beyond  the 
narrow  sphere  of  their  self-interest,  asked  themselves  what 
would  be  the  end  of  all  this  ? 


SPIRITED  RESOLUTIONS. 


131 


It  was  impossible  to  raise  a  "  No  Popery  !'*  cry  against 
them,  however  desirable,  for  tliey  were  all  Protestants, 
end,  being  Protestants,  though  they  were  Irish,  they  could 
scarcely  be  shot  down  like  dogs.  Moreover,  the}"  were 
headed  by  men  of  high  respectability,  by  men  of  rank 
and  position.  "When  they  met  at  Dungannon,  on  the  15th 
of  February  1782,  Colonel  Irvine  took  the  chair,  and 
the  following  are  but  a  few  of  the  names  of  those  who 
signed  the  resolutions: — Viscount  Enniskillen,  Colonel 
Mervyn  Archdall,  Colonel  William  Irvine,  Colonel  Robert 
M;Clintock,  Colonel  John  Ferguson,  Colonel  John  Mont- 
gomery, Colonel  Charles  Leslie,  Colonel  Francis  Lucas, 
Colonel  Thomas  M.  Jones,  Colonel  James  Hamilton, 
Colonel  Andrew  Thomson,  Lieutenant-Colonel  C.  Nesbitt, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  Stewart,  Major  James  Patterson, 
Major  Francis  Dobbs,  Major  James  M'Clintock. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  resolutions  ;  we  do 
not  give  them  all,  because  of  their  length,  our  present 
object  being  merely  to  give  a  general  outline  of  the 
state  of  Ireland  when  O'Connell  commenced  his  public 
career : — 

"  Whereas,  it  has  been  asserted  that  volunteers,  as  such,  can- 
not with  propriety  debate,  or  publish  their  opinions  on  political 
subjects,  or  on  the  conduct  of  Parliament  or  political  men. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  a  citizen  by  learning  the  use  of 
arms  does  not  abandon  any  of  his  civil  rights. 

M  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  a  claim  of  any  body  of  men, 
other  than  the  King,  Lords,  and  Commons  of  Ireland,  to  make 


132 


A  NEW  DISCOVERY. 


laws  to  bind  this  kingdom,  is  unconstitutional,  illegal,  and  a 

grievance. 

"  Resolved,  with  one  dissenting  voice  only,  That  the  powers 
exercised  by  the  Privy  Councils  of  both  kingdoms,  under,  or  under 
colour  or  pretence  of,  the  law  of  Poyning's,  are  unconstitutional, 
and  a  grievance. 

"  Resolved,  unanimously,  That  the  ports  of  this  country  are  by 
right  open  to  all  foreign  countries  not  at  war  with  the  king  ;  and 
that  any  burden  thereupon,  or  obstruction  thereto,  save  only 
by  the  Parliament  of  Ireland,  is  unconstitutional,  illegal,  and  a 
grievance. 

11  Resolved,  with  two  dissenting  voices  only  to  this  and  the 
following  resolution,  That  we  hold  the  right  of  private  judgment, 
in  matters  of  religion,  to  be  equally  sacred  in  others  as  ourselves. 

"  Resolved,  therefore,  That  as  men  and  as  Irishmen,  as  Chris* 
tians  and  as  Protestants,  we  rejoice  in  the  relaxation  of  the  penal 
laws  against  our  Roman  Catholic  fellow-subjects,  and  that  we 
conceive  the  measure  to  be  fraught  with  the  happiest  conse- 
quences to  the  union  and  prosperity  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Ireland." 

The  two  last  resolutions  are  noteworthy.  For  the  first 
time  Protestants  seem  to  have  obtained  some  glimmering 
light  on  the  subject  of  religious  liberty.  It  was  a  new 
discovery ;  yet  one  should  think  it  ought  to  have  been  an 
established  axiom,  that  "  the  right  of  private  judgment  in 
religious  matters,"  if  it  existed  at  all,  must  exist  equally 
for  all.  The  relaxation  of  the  penal  code  was  but  a  neces- 
sary consequence  of  this  conclusion  ;  the  entire  removal  of 
every  disability — social,  political,  or  domestic — would  be 
but  the  natural  end. 

Burke  thus  describes  the  pitiful  concessions  which  were 


ON  RELAXING   THE  PENAL   CODE.  133 


the  result.  His  observations  might  be  studied  with  advan- 
tage even  at  the  present  day.  Liberal-minded,  or  to  speak 
more  correctly,  large-minded  Protestants  need  to  be  re- 
minded of  Ireland's  past  grievances,  of  the  terrible  strug- 
gles which  she  was  obliged  to  make  in  order  to  obtain  even 
the  most  trifling  act  of  justice.  Those  who  are  prejudiced 
might  perhaps  lessen  their  prejudice,  if  they  have  not  sulti- 
cient  intellect  to  discard  them  by  studying  the  argu- 
ment of  one  of  England's  most  famous  senators,  though  his 
birth  was  Irish  : — 

"  To  look  at  the  bill  in  the  abstract,  it  is  neither  more  nor  less 
than  a  renewed  act  of  universal,  unmitigated,  indispensable,  ex- 
ceptionless disqualification.  One  would  imagine  that  a  bill  in- 
flicting such  a  multirude  of  incapacities,  had  followed  on  the  heels 
of  a  conquest  made  by  a  very  fierce  enemy,  under  the  impression 
of  recent  animosity  and  resentment.  No  man,  on  reading  that 
bill,  could  imagine  that  he  was  reading  an  act  of  amnesty  and 
indulgence.  This  I  say  on  memory.  It  recites  the  oath,  and 
that  Catholics  ought  to  be  considered  as  good  and  loyal  subjects 
to  his  majesty,  his  crown,  and  government;  then  follows  a  uni- 
versal exclusion  of  those  good  and  loyal  subjects  from  every, 
even  the  lowest  office  of  trust  and  profit,  or  from  any  vote  at  an 
election  ;  from  any  privilege  in  a  town  corporate  ;  from  being 
even  a  freeman  of  such  corporations ;  from  serving  on  grand 
juries ;  from  a  vote  at  a  vestry ;  from  having  a  gun  in  his  house  ; 
from  being  a  barrister,  attorney,  solicitor,  &c,  &c,  &c. 

"  This  has  surely  more  of  the  air  of  a  table  of  proscriptions 
than  an  act  of  grace.  What  must  we  suppose  the  laws  concern- 
ing those  good  subjects  to  have  been  of  which  this  is  a  relaxa 
tion  ?  VVh^n  a  very  great  portion  of  the  labour  of  individual 
goes  to  the  State,  and  is  by  the  State  again  refunded  to  iniU« 


134 


$  RATTAN  ON  THE  PENAL  CODE. 


viduals  through  the  medium  of  offices,  and  in  this  circuitous  pro* 
gress  from  the  public  to  the  private  fund,  indemnifies  the  families 
from  whom  it  is  taken,  an  equitable  balance  between  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  subject  is  established.  But  if  a  great  body  of  the 
people  who  contribute  to  this  State  lottery,  are  excluded  from  all 
the  prizes,  the  stopping  the  circulation  with  regard  to  them  must 
be  a  most  cruel  hardship,  amounting  in  effect  to  being  double  and 
treble  taxed,  and  will  be  felt  as  such  to  the  very  quick  by  all  the 
families,  high  and  low,  of  those  hundreds  of  thousands  who  are 
denied  their  chance  in  the  returned  fruits  of  their  own  industry. 
This  is  the  thing  meant  by  those  who  look  on  the  public  revenue 
only  as  a  spoil ;  and  will  naturally  wish  to  have  as  few  as  possi- 
ble concerned  in  the  division  of  the  booty.  If  a  State  should  be 
so  unhappy  as  to  think  it  cannot  subsist  without  such  a  barbarous 
proscription,  the  persons  so  proscribed  ought  to  be  indemnified 
by  the  remission  of  a  large  part  of  their  taxes,  by  an  immunity 
from  the  offices  of  public  burden,  and  by  an  exemption  from 
being  pressed  into  any  military  or  naval  service.  Why  are 
Catholics  excluded  from  the  law  ?  Do  not  they  expend  money  in 
their  suits  ?  Why  may  not  they  indemnify  themselves  by  profit- 
ing in  the  persons  of  some  for  the  losses  incurred  by  others  ? 
Why  may  they  not  have  persons  of  confidence,  whom  they  may, 
if  they  please,  employ  in  the  agency  of  their  affairs?  The  ex- 
clusion from  the  law,  from  grand  juries,  from  sheriffships,  under- 
sheriffships,  as  well  as  from  freedom  in  any  corporation,  may 
subject  them  to  dreadful  hardships,  as  it  may  exclude  them 
wholly  from  all  that  is  beneficial,  and  expose  them  to  all  that  is 
mischievous  in  a  trial  by  jury." 

Grattan  exclaimed — 

"  So  long  as  the  penal  code  remains,  we  never  can  be  a  great 
nation  :  the  penal  code  is  the  shell  in  which  the  Protestant 
power  has  been  hatched,  and  now  it  is  become  a  bird,  it  must 
burst  the  shell  asunder,  or  perish  in  it.    I  give  my  consent  to  the 


LORD  ClIARLEMOST'S  LETTER. 


135 


clause  in  its  principle,  extent,  and  boldness,  and  give  my  consent 
to  it  as  the  most  likely  means  of  obtaining  a  victory  over  the 
prejudices  of  Catholics,  and  over  our  own.  I  give  my  consent  to 
it,  because  I  would  not  keep  two  millions  of  my  fellow-subjects  in 
a  state  of  slavery  ;  and  because,  as  the  mover  of  the  Declaration 
of  Bights,  I  should  be  ashamed  of  giving  freedom  to  but  six 
hundred  thousand  of  my  countrymen,  when  I  could  extend  it  to 
two  millions  more." 

The  state  of  Ireland  was  causing  general  alarm  in  Eng- 
land. Lord  Charlemont  wrote  to  Mr  Fox  the  bold  words  : 
"  /  am  an  Irishman;  I  pride  myself  in  the  appellation." 1  The 

7  "We  give  a  considerable  portion  of  Lord  Charlemont's  letter.  The 
original  may  be  found  both  in  Hardy's  "  Life  of  Lord  Charlemont,"  and 
in  the  Fox  Correspondence  : — 

M  Dublin',  nth  April,  1782. 
"No  man  can  be  more  rejoiced  than  I  am  at  this  late  happy,  though 
tardy,  change,  I  rejoice  in  it  as  a  friend  to  individuals,  but  more  espe- 
cially as  a  member  of  the  empire  at  large,  which  will  probably  be  indebted 
to  it  for  its  salvation.  I  hope  also,  and  doubt  not,  that  I  shall  have 
reason  to  rejoice  in  it  as  an  Irishman,  for  I  cannot  conceive  that  they 
who  are  intent  upon  the  great  work  of  restoring  the  empire,  should  not 
be  ardently  attentive  to  the  real  welfare  of  all  its  parts  ;  or  that  true 
Whigs,  genuine  lovers  of  liberty,  whose  principles  I  know,  honour,  and 
6trive  to  imitate,  should  not  wish  to  diffuse  this  invaluable  blessing 
through  every  part  of  those  dominions  whose  interests  they  are  called 
o\  na  to  administer.  The  appointment  of  the  Duke  of  Portland,  and  of 
his  secretary,  is  a  <;ood  presage.  I  know  and  respect  their  principles,  ami 
should  be  truly  unhappy  if  anything  in  their  conduct  respecting  this 
country  should  prevent  my  perfect  co-operation  with  them  For,  my 
dear  sir,  with  every  degree  of  affection  for  our  sister  kingdom,  with 
every  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  empire  at  large,  I  am  an  Irishman  ; 
I  pride  myself  in  the  appellation,  and  will  in  every  particular  act  as  such, 
at  the  same  time  declaring  that  I  most  sincerely  and  heartily  concur 
with  you  in  thinking  that  the  interests  of  England  and  of  Ireland  can- 


136 


KINDLING  OF  NATIONAL  SPIRIT. 


volunteers  were  feared  certainly,  but  the  spirit  which  the 
volunteers  had  evoked  was  feared,  and  should  have  been 
feared  a  great  deal  more.  Irishmen  had  been  so  long 
treated  as  inferiors,  that  they  had  begun  to  acquiesce  in  this 
treatment,  passively  at  least. 

Their  new  assertion  that  they  were  men  who  had  rights, 
their  new  perception  that  it  needed  only  a  little  force,  moral 
and  physical,  to  obtain  these  rights,  roused  the  spirit  of 
the  nation. 

Mr  Fox  discovered  very  clearly  some  of  the  evils  of  Irish 

not  be  distinct ;  and  that,  therefore,  in  acting  as  an  Irishman,  I  may 
always  hope  to  perform  the  part  of  a  true  Englishman  also. 

"  I  have  shown  your  letter  to  Grattan,  and  he  is  much  gratified  by  your 
friendly  opinion  of  him.  We  are  both  of  us  precisely  of  the  same  mind. 
"We  respect  and  honour  the  present  administration.  We  adore  the 
principle  on  which  it  is  founded.  We  look  up  to  its  members  with  the 
utmost  confidence  for  their  assistance  in  the  great  work  of  general  free- 
dom, and  should  be  happy  in  our  turn  to  have  it  in  our  power  to  support 
them  in  Ireland  in  the  manner  which  may  be  most  beneficial  to  them, 
and  most  honourable  to  us  ;  consulted  but  not  considered.  The  people 
at  large  must  indeed  entertain  a  partiality  for  the  present  ministers. 
True  Whigs  must  rejoice  at  the  prevalence  of  Whiggish  principles.  The 
nation  wishes  to  support  the  favourers  of  American  freedom,  the  men 
who  opposed  the  detested,  the  execrated  American  war.  Let  our  rights 
be  acknowledged  and  secured  to  us — those  rights  which  no  man  can  con- 
trovert, but  which  to  a  true  Whig  are  self-evident — and  that  nation, 
those  lives  and  fortunes  which  are  now  universally  pledged  for  the 
emancipation  of  our  country,  will  be  as  cheerfully,  as  universally  pledged 
for  the  defence  of  our  sister  kingdom,  and  for  the  support  of  an  adminis- 
tration which  will  justly  claim  the  gratitude  of  a  spirited  and  grateful 
people,  by  having  contributed  to  the  completion  of  all  their  wishes. — I 
am,  &c, 

"  Charlemont." 


AN  IRRESPONSIBLE  GOVERNMENT.  137 


administration.    He  wrote  thus  to  Mr  Fitzpatrick,  who  was 

chief  secretary,  on  the  13th  April  1782  : — 

"  He  [the  Duke  of  Leinster]  describes  the  want  of  concert  and 
oystem  which  comes  from  the  want  of  such  a  tiling  [a  cabinet]  to 
he  very  detrimental  in  every  respect,  and  particularly  in  parlia- 
mentary operations,  where  those  who  wish  to  support  Government 
often  do  not  know  till  the  moment  what  is  the  plan  proposed, 
and  consequently  are  wholly  unable  to  support  it  either  system- 
atically or  effectually.  Another  great  inconvenience,  which  he 
attributes  to  this  want,  is  that  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  not  having 
any  regular  ministry  to  apply  to,  is  driven,  or  at  least  led,  to  con- 
sult Lees  and  such  sort  of  inferior  people,  and  by  that  means  the 
whole  power  is  (as  it  was  here)  centered  in  the  Jenkinsons  and  Ro- 
binsons, &c.,  of  that  country.  Nobody  is  responsible  but  the  Lord- 
Lieutenant  and  his  secretary  ;  they  know  they  are  to  go  away, 
and  consequently  all  the  mischiefs  ensue  that  belong  to  a  govern* 
ment  without  responsibility.  I  have  not  talked  with  anybody 
upon  this,  nor  indeed  had  time  to  think  it  over  myself,  but  it 
really  strikes  me  as  a  matter  very  well  worth  weighing,  ami  I 
wish  the  Duke  of  Portland  and  you  would  turn  your  minds  to  it, 
especially  if,  as  I  take  for  granted,  this  idea  was  suggested  to  the 
Duke  of  Leinster  by  other  considerable  men  on  your  side  of  the 
water.  I  have  only  stated  it  to  you  as  it  strikes  me,  upon  first 
hearing  the  thing  broached."* 

It  was  an  old  story.    The  Lord-Lieutenant  merely  looked 

on  his  post  as  a  place  of  emolument  or  a  dignity.  Ireland 

was  nothing  to  him.    How  should  it  be,  when  his  residence 

in  that  country  might  terminate  at  any  moment,  when  he 

■  Correspondence  of  Cliarles  James  Fox,  vol.  i  p.  387. — The  editor  of 
that  work  observes  :  "  It  is  ciftious  to  see  the  question  of  '  responsible 
government'  started  in  Ireland  more  than  half  a  century  before  it  waa 
a  watchword  in  Canada'' 


138 


A  WARNING. 


had  no  power  to  do  good  if  he  wished,  and  would  have  even 
scant  thanks  from  his  masters  for  doing  it  had  he  been 
able  ? 

The  position  was  anything  but  a  pleasant  one.  We 
shall  see  later  on  what  another  viceroy  thought  on  the 
subject.  At  this  time  there  was  undoubtedly  a  system  of 
espionage.  Letters  were  opened,  it  was  said,  by  the  crea- 
tures of  the  late  administration. 

Mr  Fitzpatrick  wrote  to  Mr  Fox  to  warn  him : — 

"  Dublin  Castle,  April  VWi,  1782. 
"  Dear  Charles, — I  shall  begin  my  letter  with  giving  you  a 
caution  concerning  the  communication  of  its  contents  too  generally 
on  your  side  of  the  water,  and  with  another,  respecting  the  con- 
fidential letters  you  write  me,  which  you  had  better  never  trust  to 
the  post,  as  we  have  the  misfortune  of  being  here  in  the  hands  of 
the  tools  of  the  last  Government,  and  there  is  every  reason  tn 
suspect  that  our  letters  may  be  opened  before  they  reach  us.  1 
wish  you,  therefore,  to  trust  them  only  in  the  hands  of  mes- 
sengers." 9 


9  There  are  some  amusing  remarks  about  Grattan  in  this  letter  :  "  P>ut 
what  appears  to  me  the  worst  of  all  is,  that  unless  the  heat  of  the  volun- 
teers subsides,  I  dread  Grattan's.  For  though  everybody  seems  to  agree 
that  he  is  honest,  I  am  sure  he  is  an  enthusiast,  and  impracticable  as  the 
most  impracticable  of  our  friends  in  the  Westminster  Committee.  His 
situation  is  enough  to  turn  the  head  of  any  man  fond  of  popular 
applause,  but  the  brilliancy  of  it  can  only  subsist  by  carrying  points  in 
opposition  to  Government  ;  and  though  he  chose  to  make  a  comparison 
yesterday  between  Ireland  and  America,  giving  the  preference  to  his 
own  country,  I  confess  I  think  the  wise,  temperate,  systematic  conduct 
of  the  other,  if  adopted  by  Ireland,  would  bring  all  these  di  fficulties  to  a 
very  short  and  happy  conclusion,  to  the  satisfaction  and  advantage  of 


POST-OFFICE  ESPIOXAGE. 


139 


On  the  19th  of  July  1783,  Lord  Temple  wrote  a  similar 

complaint  to  Mr  Beresford  : — 

M  It  is  probable  that  this  letter  will  share  the  fate  which  many 
others  have  experienced,  and  as  I  do  not  mean  to  write  for  the 
information  of  the  post-office,  I  will  only  say  that  I  still  take  that 
eager  interest  in  the  government  of  Ireland  which  will  make  me 
cordially  rejoice  in  the  success  of  a  wise  and  temperate  govern- 
ment ;  but  I  have  not  the  smallest  objection  to  the  publication  of 
my  opinion,  that  as  far  as  your  administration  depends  upon 
English  ministers,  it  will  not  be  wise,  temperate,  or  consistent, 
and  that  every  scene  to  which  I  have  been  a  witness  since  my 
arrival  in  England  has  confirmed  me  in  my  opinions,  under  which 
I  resigned  the  government,  which  I  could  not  hold  with  advan- 
tage to  the  empire  and  honour  to  myself." 

On  the  13th  of  October  1783,  he  wrote  : — 

u  The  shameful  liberties  taken  with  my  letters,  both  sent  and 
received  (for  even  the  Speaker's  letter  to  me  had  been  opened), 
make  me  cautious  on  politics  ;  but  you,  who  know  me,  will  be- 
lieve that  I  am  most  deeply  anxious  for  the  events  of  this  Irish 
session,  and  with  every  disposition  to  loathe  and  execrate  our 
English  ministry,  even  with  the  certainty  that  their  measures, 
their  abilities,  and  their  intentions  are  little  proportioned  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  State,  I  am  still  too  warmly  anxious  for  the 
peace  and  unity  of  the  empire  not  to  wish  to  Government  in 
Ireland  every  success  in  the  arduous  task  of  this  winter." 

It  was  no  wonder  that  Ireland  was  discontented.  The 


both  parties.  Lord  Shelburne's  speech  gives  great  satisfaction  here,  and 
probably  it'  there  had  been  any  chance  of  soothing  this  country  into 
moderation,  would  have  done  infinite  mischief.  It  is  curious  enough 
that  "while  he  is  recommending  us  to  support  the  authority  of  England 
more  than  we  either  can  or,  I  think,  ought  to  do,  he  should  be  declaring 
in  the  House  of  Lords  that  the  claims  of  Ireland  must  be  acceded  to." 


140 


IRISH  GRIEVANCES. 


private  correspondence  of  the  times  between  those  who  pro- 
fessed to  govern  her,  afford  ample  evidence  that  while  they 
disagreed  totally  as  to  how  she  should  be  governed,  they 
agreed  thoroughly  that  she  should  not  be  allowed  a  voice 
in  her  own  government ;  above  all,  that  she  should  not  be 
allowed  prosperity,  commercial  or  otherwise. 

Men  asked  in  one  breath,  "  What  did  Ireland  want? 
and  what  were  her  grievances  ?  "  but  when  she  told  them, 
they  were  flung  aside  with  contempt,  or  silenced  by  force. 

If  any  man  dared  to  speak  for  her,  and  boldly  proclaim 
her  wrongs,  he  was  a  malcontent;  if  any  man  ventured 
to  suggest  physical  force,  he  was  a  rebel.  America  was 
quoted  to  her  quite  as  a  model  theoretically,  but  practi- 
cally we  all  know  the  result  when  she  attempted  to  follow 
this  example. 

The  truth  was,  England  did  not  choose  to  listen.  What 
were  the  most  cogent  arguments  to  her,  when  she  had 
formed  her  resolve,  and  did  not  intend  to  alter  it  ?  Grattan 
told  her  in  plain,  clear,  unmisrepresentable  language  what 
Ireland  did  not  want,  and  what  she  did  want.  She  did  not 
want  "a  foreign  judicature ; "  English  rule  in  Ireland 
was  no  better.  The  Englishmen  who  ruled  Ireland  did 
not  consider  it  their  home,  much  less  did  they  consider  it 
their  fatherland,  which  they  should  honour,  for  whose 
prosperity  they  should  work,  heart  and  soul.  The  one 
question  with  them  was,  not  what  will  benefit  Ireland,  but 
what  will  benefit  England.    When  an  act  of  the  commonest 


SCORX  OF  IRISH  DEMASDS.  141 


justice  was  proposed  for  Ireland,  the  first  observation  was 
not,  We  must  grant  it — it  is  justice  :  but,  Will  it  ever  in 
the  least  interfere  with  English  interests?  This  is  no  mere 
assertion.    There  is  ample  proof  of  it. 

Ireland  was  told  to  be  "  reasonable,"  which  meant  that 
she  was  to  be  thankful  for  such  little  permission  to  trade 
as  certainly  could  not  divert  a  ship-load  of  any  manufac- 
ture from  England,  even  by  the  remotest  possibility. 

If  concessions  were  asked,  the  petition  was  quietly 
shelved.  If  they  were  demanded,  it  was  considered  an 
insult,  and  an  ample  reason  for  refusing  them. 

If  the  interests  of  a  great  realm  were  not  concerned, 
if  the  interests  of  men  who  were  equals  were  not  con- 
cerned, one  could  afford  to  smile  at  such  folly.  It  was 
a  schoolboy  axiom  carried  out  by  great  men  in  politi- 
cal life.  If  you  will  not  ask,  how  can  we  know  what 
you  want?  if  you  do  ask,  be  assured  you  shall  not  get 
what  you  ask.  There  was  evermore  something  wrong  in 
that  which  was  asked  for,  or  in  the  manner  of  the 
asking.  Practically  it  mattered  little,  for  the  result  was 
just  the  same.1 

1  Sir  Richard  Heron  wrote  thus  to  Mr  Robinson  from  Dublin  Castle 
on  the  20th  August  1779  :  "  The  unusual  sum  of  money  now  wanted, 
the  low  state  of  the  revenue,  and  the  general  distress  of  the  kingdom, 
considered  together,  give  great  reason  to  apprehend  a  very  difficult  ses- 
sion. It  will,  however,  be  my  Lord-Lieutenant's  utmost  endeavour  that 
the  affairs  of  this  kingdom  may  embarrass  his  Majesty  and  his  British 
servants  a?  little  as  possible." — Beresford  Corresponde?ice,  vol.  i.  p.  47. 


142         A  PUZZLE  PAST  COMPREHENSION. 


Meanwhile  the  state  of  the  country  was  becoming  daily 
worse.  Ireland  was  to  be  allowed  only  the  "  gleanings  "  1 
of  commerce,  though  her  worst  enemies  admitted  she  could 
not  live  on  them ;  she  was  to  be  "  reasonable," 3  though 
the  same  persons  declared  the  kingdom  was  in  such  a  dis- 
tress, it  "  puzzled4  all  [English]  comprehension"  what  it 
might  do. 

2  "  Ireland  is  certainly  a  great  kingdom  ;  but  the  idea  of  its  supporting, 
upon  the  gleanings  of  commerce  (for  such  only  it  can  carry  on  during  a 
war),  its  continual  drains  to  Great  Britain,  and  a  military  establishment 
sufficient  to  defend  itself,  is  certainly  ill-founded.  Prepare,  therefore, 
to  give  handsomely,  but  upon  proper  terms,  some  material  extension  of 
their  commerce.  Whatever  commerce  this  kingdom  carries  on  legally 
will  prejudice  yours  less  than  their  carrying  it  on,  as  they  have  hitherto 
done,  illicitly." — Letter  of  Sir  Richard  Heron  to  Mr  Robinson,  August  20, 
1779. 

3  "  That  no  extension  (by  trade)  of  any  value  can  be  given  without  the 
exertion  of  Government,  nor  without  occasioning  great  discontent  in 
many  parts  of  England  ;  and,  therefore,  unless  Ireland  is  likely  to  be 
satisfied  with  reasonable  extensions,  they  may  be  assured  his  Majesty's 
servants  will  preserve  good-humour  at  home  by  not  giving  their  suppwi  t 
to  any,  and  that  the  gentlemen  of  this  country  will  have  the  ill  humours 
they  excite  to  pacify,  or  the  kingdom  will  go  into  a  state  of  confusion, 
which  cannot  but  have  very  serious  consequences  to  all  gentlemen  who 
possess  property  here." — Beresford  Correspondence,  vol.  i.  p.  50. 

4  "  This  kingdom  is  in  such  a  state  as  puzzles  all  comprehension  as  to 
what  it  may  do  :  a  multitude  of  idlers  miserably  poor  ;  a  debt,  small  as 
it  is,  without  a  shilling  to  pay  interest ;  the  skeleton  of  a  force  not  in 
his  Majesty's  service,  which  it  may  be  difficult  to  deal,  or  madness  to 
meddle  with  ;  taxes  to  be  imposed,  and  no  material  for  imposition  ;  a 
great  deal  of  ignorance  ;  a  great  deal  of  prejudice  ;  a  most  over- 
grown hierarchy,  and  a  most  oppressed  peasantry  ;  property  by  some 
late  determinations  of  the  Lords  upon  covenants  for  perpetual  renewals 
of  leases  very  much  set  at  sea,  and  no  means  to  a  multitude  of  families 


WHAT  IRELAXD  DID  XOT    WAXT.  143 


Ireland  did  not  want  a  "  foreign  judicature."  She 
wanted  an  impartial  administration,  and  that  could  not  be 
given  to  her  by  men  whose  one  idea  was  not  justice, 
but  English  interests.  She  did  not  want  a  "  legis- 
lative Privy  Council,"  nor  a  "  perpetual  army."  The 
"  perpetual  army"  for  which  she  was  compelled  to  pay 


to  supply  its  place  ;  rents  fallen,  and  a  general  disposition  to  riot  and 
mischief."—  Letter  from  the  Attorney-General  to  Mr  Robinson,  dated  Har- 
court  Street,  Dublin,  April  13,  1779.  The  Attorney-General  was  created 
Earl  of  Clonmel  in  1793.  He  was  a  clever  but  utterly  unscrupulous 
politician,  and  by  no  means  choice  in  his  language.  He  certainly  had 
little  respect  for  the  Protestant  Church,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

Rowans  "Autobiography"  records  a  strange  dialogue  between  Lord 
Clonmel  and  a  bookseller  named  Byrne,  whose  shop  he  visited  on  seeing 
Rowan's  trial  advertised.  One  sentence  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  col- 
loquy, as  well  as  of  the  times  in  which  such  language  could  be  hazarded 
by  a  judge.  "Take  care,  sir,  what  you  do;  I  give  you  this  caution  ; 
ibr  if  there  are  any  reflections  on  the  judges  of  the  land,  by  the  eternal 
G —  I  will  lay  you  by  the  heels." 

Lord  Clonmers  health  and  spirits  gradually  broke  down,  and  accounts 
of  his  death  were  daily  circulated.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  when  he 
was  really  very  ill,  a  friend  said  to  Curran,  "  Well,  they  say  Clonmel  is 
going  to  die  at  last  Do  you  believe  it?"  "I  believe,"  said  Curran, 
"he  is  scoundrel  enough  to  live  or  die,  just  as  it  suits  his  own  con- 
venience!" Shortly  before  the  death  of  Lord  Clonmel,  Mr  Lawless, 
afterwards  Lord  Cloncurry,  had  an  interview  with  him,  when  the  chief 
exclaimed,  "  My  dear  Val,  I  have  been  a  fortunate  man  through  life  ;  I 
am  a  chief-justice  and  an  earl :  but  were  I  to  begin  the  world  again, 
1  vould  rather  be  a  chimney-sweeper,  than  connected  with  the  Irish 
Government." 

His  family  published  his  diary  for  private  circulation.  It  is  an 
amusing  and  not  very  edifying  production.  For  fuller  accounts  of  him,  see 
"The  Sham  Squire,  or  the  Reformers  of  ;98," — a  most  curious  and  inter- 
esting work,  giving  details  never  before  published  of  the  state  of  Ireland 


U4 


THE   WANTS  OF  IRELAND. 


was  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  "foreign  judicature."8 
She  asked  u  nothing  but  what  was  essential  to  her  liberty," 
and  she  heard  this  powerful  argument  enforced  by  one  of 
the  best  and  ablest  of  her  sons.     She  only  asked  what 


at  this  eventful  period.  Lord  Clonmel,  it  is  stated,  enriched  himself  by 
a  gross  breach  of  trust,  which,  however,  was  then  perfectly  legal.  It 
would  appear  that  the  lady  whom  lie  defended  was  his  own  step- 
daughter. 

The  author  of  "  The  Sham  Squire  "  was  informed  by  a  very  respectable 

solicitor,  Mr  H  ,  that  in  looking  over  Lord  Clonmel's  rentals,  he 

was  struck  by  the  following  note  written  by  his  lordship's  agent,  in 
reference  to  the  property  Brolnaduff.  "  Lord  Clonmel,  when  Mr 
Scott,  held  this  in  trust  for  a  Roman  Catholic,  who,  owing  to  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Popery  laws,  was  incapacitated  from  keeping  it  in  his  own 
hands.  When  reminded  of  the  trust.  Mr  Scott  refused  to  acknowledge 
i%  and  thus  the  property  fell  into  the  Clonmel  family."  The  key  to 
this  is  found  in  a  paragraph  in  Walker's  Hibernian  Magazine  for  July 
1797.  We  read,  p.  97, — "  Edward  Byrne  of  Mullinahack,  Esq.,  to  Miss 
Roe,  step-daughter  to  the  Earl  of  Clonmel,  and  niece  to  Lord  Viscount 
Llandaff."  Hereby  hangs  a  tale.  Miss  Roe  was  understood  to  have  a 
large  fortune,  and  when  Mr  Byrne  applied  to  Lord  Clonmel  for  it,  his 
lordship  shuffled,  saying,  "  Miss  Roe  is  a  lapsed  Papist,  and  I  avail 
myself  of  the  laws  which  I  administer  to  withhold  the  money."  Mr 
Byrne  filed  a  bill,  in  which  he  recited  the  evasive  reply  of  Lord  Clon- 
mel. The  chief-justice  never  answered  the  bill,  and  treated  Mr  Byrne's 
remonstrances  with  contempt.  These  facts  transpire  in  the  legal  docu- 
ments held  by  Mr  H  .    Too  often  the  treachery  manifested  by  the 

rich  in  positions  of  trust,  at  the  calamitous  period  in  question,  contrasted 
curiously  with  the  tried  fidelity  observed  by  some  needy  persons  in  a 
similar  capacity.  Moore,  in  his  "  Memoirs  of  Captain  Rock,"  mentions 
the  case  of  a  poor  Protestant  barber,  who,  though  his  own  property  did 
not  exceed  a  few  pounds  in  value,  actually  held  in  lee  the  estates  of 
most  of  the  Catholic  gentry  of  the  county.  He  adds,  that  this  estimable 
man  was  never  known  to  betray  his  trust." 

5  See  Grattan's  Letter,  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


UXCOXDITIOXA  L  COXCESSIOXS. 


145 


Englishmen  considered  indispensable  for  themselves.  The 
burden  of  proof  lay  on  them.  They  were  bound  to  show, 
if  they  could;  why  they  denied  Ireland  that  justice  which 
was  the  pride  and  boast  of  their  own  country. 

Mr  Fox  wrote  a  politely  evasive  reply.  He  assured  Mr 
Grattan  that  he  considered  Irish  affairs  "  very  import- 
ant," but  that  it  would  be  "  imprudent"  to  meddle  with 
fiiem.  He  wrote  the  usual  platitudes  about  ardent  wishes 
to  satisfy  both  countries.  He  probably  knew  as  well,  or 
better,  than  any  living  man  that  he  could  not  satisfy  both 
countries,  so  long  as  justice  to  Ireland  was  considered 
injustice  to  England. 

Mr  Fox  wrote  a  private  letter  at  the  same  time  to 
Mr  Fitzpatrick,  in  which  he  said  that  his  answer  to 
Grattau's  letter  was  "  perfectly  general,"  6  which  was  per- 
fectly true. 

The  result,  however,  was  favourable.  Grattan's  appeal 
was  considered  and  accepted.  The  Act  of  the  6th  George  I., 
entitled,  "  An  Act  for  the  Better  Securing  the  Dependency 
of  Ireland  upon  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,"  was  repealed. 

On  the  27th  of  May  1782,  when  the  Irish  Houses  met, 
after  an  adjournment  of  three  weeks,  the  Duke  of  Portland 
announced  the  unconditional  concessions  which  had  been 
made  to  Ireland  by  the  English  Parliament.  Mr  Grattan  in- 
terpreted the  concession  in  the  fullest  sense,  and  moved  an 


6  Correspondence  of  Charles  James  Fox. 

K 


146 


IRISH  GRATITUDE. 


address,  ';  breathing  the  generous  sentiments  of  his  noble 
and  confiding  nature/'  Mr  Flood  and  a  few  other  mem- 
bers took  a  different  and  more  cautious  view  of  the  case. 
They  wished  for  something  more  than  a  simple  repeal  of  the 
Act  of  the  6th  George  L,  and  they  demanded  an  express 
declaration  that  England  would  not  interfere  with  Irish 
affairs.  But  the  address  was  carried  by  a  division  of  211 
to  2  ;  and  the  House,  to  show  its  gratitude,  voted  that 
20,000  Irish  seamen  should  be  raised  for  the  British  navy, 
at  a  cost  of  £100,000,  and  that  £50,000  should  be  given  to 
purchase  an  estate  and  build  a  house  for  Mr  Grattan,  whose 
eloquence  had  contributed  so  powerfully  to  obtain  what 
they  hoped  would  prove  justice  to  Ireland. 

If  even  a  small  majority  of  the  Irish  Parliament  had 
been  men  whose  interests  were  Irish,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
Ireland  would  have  prospered.  Even  as  it  was,  the  last 
years  of  her  nominal  independence  were  her  best  years. 

There  were  three  causes  which  proved  the  ruin  of  Irish 
independence.  First,  the  volunteers  were  quietly  and 
cleverly  suppressed.7    There  was  no  noise,  no  commotion  ; 


1  How  terribly  afraid  Government  was  of  the  volunteers  is  evident 
from  the  following  documents.  On  the  31st  October  1783,  General 
Burgoyne  wrote  to  Mr  Fox  : — 

"  Add  to  this  the  apprehensions  that  timid  and  melancholy  specu- 
lators entertain  upon  the  meeting  of  the  Convention  of  Delegates  the 
10th  of  next  month.  I  have  not  myself  any  idea  of  serious  commotion, 
but  we  have  strengthened  the  garrison  of  Dublin,  and  it  might  be 
thought  wrong  in  the  commander-in-chief  to  be  absent.    You  have, 


DREAD  OF  THE  VOLUNTEER: 


147 


it  was  a  simple  extinction.  Men  might  talk  as  they 
pleased,  but  without  an  armed  force  to  give  at  least  a 
physical  impression  to  their  words,  the  talk  was  a  breath, 
and  nothing  more.  Secondly  individual  members  of  Par- 
liament were  bribed,  sometimes  with  place,  sometimes  with 

doubtless,  the  fullest  information  of  the  proceedings  and  language  of  the 
Bishop  of  Deny,  and  of  the  mode  in  which  the  friends  of  Government 
mean  to  meet  the  question  of  Parliamentary  Reform,  if  urged  other- 
wise than  by  application  to  Parliament." — Fox's  Correspondence,  vol.  ii. 
p.  180. 

Lord  "Worth ington  wrote  from  Dublin  Castle  on  November  30,  sug- 
gesting that  they  should  be  got  rid  of  politely  : — 

"If  this  business  goes  off,  as  I  sanguinely  hope  it  may,  and  the  ad- 
dress should  go  to  the  king,  an  answer  of  temper  and  firmness  at  the 
same  time  would  highly  suit  the  present  state  of  things  ;  such  as  a 
retrospective  compliment  to  the  conduct  of  the  volunteers,  and  disap- 
probation of  their  present  meeting,— a  hope,  expectation,  or  advice  of 
their  disbanding  themselves." 

On  the  17th  November,  General  Burgoyne  wrote  again  :  — 

"A  greater  embarrassment  yet  has  arisen  in  the  Convention,  which 
you  will  see  in  print — viz.,  the  interfeience  (but  upon  different  prin- 
ciples) of  the  Catholics.  By  the  mouth  of  Lord  Kenmare,  they  relin- 
quish their  pretensions  to  suffrages  at  elections  ;  by  the  mouth  of  Sir 
Patrick  Bellew,  they  assert  them.  I  wish  they  did  so  more  soundly, 
for  I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that  every  alarm  of  the  increase  of  Catholic 
interest  and  prevalence  beyond  the  present  limits — which  give  them  in 
the  general  opinion  all  the  share  of  rights  necessary  for  their  happiness, 
and  consistent  with  the  safety  of  their  Protestant  fellow-subjects — every 
idea,  I  think,  of  an  extension  of  their  claims,  excites  new  jealous)'-  and 
dread  of  the  volunteers,  and  cements  and  animates  the  real  friends  of  the 
constitution,  and  surely  with  reason  ;  for,  upon  the  very  principle  of 
free  and  conscientious  suffrage,  nothing  can  be  more  impossible  than  a 
Protestant  representative  chosen  by  Catholic  electors." 

The  last  clause  is  amusing.   "  Free  and  conscientious  suffrage  "  would 
have  allowed  Catholic  electors  to  elect  Catholic  representative*. 


148 


BRIBERY  OF  THE  PRESS. 


pension,  sometimes  with  rank.  It  was  quite  the  same  in 
which  form  the  bribe  was  given  or  taken,  the  work  was 
done. 

And,  thirdly,  the  press  was  bribed ;  and,  moreover,  this 
was  done  more  or  less  openly.  On  the  23d  of  January  1 789, 
Mr  Griffith  complained  in  his  place  in  Parliament  that  the 
"  newspapers  seemed  under  some  very  improper  influence. 
In  one  paper  the  country  was  described  as  one  scene  of 
riot  and  confusion  ;  in  another  all  is  peace.  By  the 
proclamations  that  are  published  in  them,  and  which  are 
kept  in  for  years,  in  order  to  make  the  fortunes  of 
some  individuals,  the  kingdom  is  scandalised  and  dis- 
graced through  all  the  nations  of  the  world  where  our 
newspapers  are  read.  The  proclamations  are  a  libel  on 
the  country.  Was  any  offender  ever  taken  up  in  con- 
sequence of  such  publications  ?  And  are  they  not  rather 
a  hint  to  offenders  to  change  their  situation  and  appear- 
ance ?  He  did  hope,  from  what  a  right  honourable 
gentleman  had  said  last  year,  that  this  abuse  would  have 
been  redressed,  but  ministers  have  not  deigned  to  give 
any  answer  on  the  subject." 

Proclamations  were  actually  kept  up  when  the  country 
was  at  peace,  so  that  strangers  would  suppose  that  Ireland 
was  a  "  savage  nation ;" — not  the  last  time  by  any  means 
that  it  was  similarly  misrepresented.  Newspapers  were 
also  distributed  gratuitously  through  the  country. 

On  the  27th  August  1781,  Mr  Eden  wrote  to  Lord  North, 


APPEALS  FOR  SECRET  SERVICE  MOXEY.  149 


complaining  cf  the  "sickening  circumstances"  of  an  Irish 
secretaryship,  and  concluded  his  letter  thus: — 

"  My  Lord-Lieutenant  has  repeatedly  written  to  your  lord- 
ship, both  through  me  and  through  Lord  Hillsborough,  on  the 
essential  importance  of  obtaining  from  you  some  small  help  of 
secret  service  money.  We  have  hitherto,  by  the  force  of  good 
words,  and  with  some  degree  of  private  expense,  preserved  an 
ascendency  over  the  press,  not  hitherto  known  here,  and  it  is  of 
an  importance  equal  to  ten  thousand  times  its  cost ;  but  we  are 
without  the  means  of  continuing  it,  nor  have  we  any  fund  to 
resist  the  factious  attempts  among  the  populace,  which  may  occa- 
sionally be  serious. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Lord,  ever  respectfully  and  affectionat  ely 
yours,  "  Wm.  Eden.  ' 

On  the  13th  September,  he  wrote  again  on  the  same 
8ubject :  — 

"  Our  session  is  drawing  desperately  near,  and  all  preparations 
for  it  are  much  interrupted  by  this  alarm  of  an  invasion.  We 
much  regret  that  your  lordship  has  not  found  any  means  to  assist 
us  in  the  article  of  secret  service.  The  press  is  the  principal 
operative  power  in  the  government  of  this  kingdom;  and  we  are 
utterly  without  means  to  influence  that  power.  We  are  equally 
without  means  to  counteract  the  wicked  attempts  occasionally 
made  in  the  idle  and  populous  part  of  this  town  to  raise  mobs, 
and  to  turn  the  rabble  against  ministers  ;  having,  however,  re- 
peatedly represented  these  points,  '  which  nobody  can  deny,'  we 
have  done  all  that  we  can  do,  and  must  continue  to  steer  through 
the  various  difficulties  of  this  government  as  well  as  we  can, 
without  troops  and  without  money,  in  the  face  of  an  armed 
people  and  general  poverty." 


In  1789,  Irish  politics  were  complicated  by  the  regency 


150 


ADD  LI  ESS   TO  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 


question.  Mr  Pitt  opposed,  and  Mr  Fox8  supported  the 
unrestricted  regency  of  the  Prince  of  Wales.  The  Irish 
Parliament  issued  an  address  "  requesting  that  his  Royal 
Highness  would  take  upon  himself  the  government  of 
Ireland  during  the  continuation  of  the  king's  indispo- 
sition." Grattan  headed  the  independent  party.  Some 
curious  particulars  of  the  fashion  in  which  Ireland  was 
governed  came  out.  The  Lord-Lieutenant,  Lord  Rook* 
ingham.  positively  refused  to  forward  the  address,  and 


8  Mr  Fox  was  then  at  Bath  to  recruit  his  health.  He  had  duffrred 
severely  from  his  hurried  journey  home  from  Boulogne  on  hearing  of  the 
king's  illness.  He  wrote  on  Irish  affairs  to  Mr  Fitzpatrick  on  the  17th 
February  1789,  from  Bath  :— 

"  Dear  Dick, — You  have  heard  before  this  of  our  triumphant  majority 
in  the  House  of  Lords  in  Ireland,  but  I  think  one  of  the  best  parts  oi 
the  news  is  the  address  having  been  put  off  till  yesterday,  which  seema 
to  remove  all  apprehension  of  the  difficulty  which  you  mention  in  your 
letter,  and  which  in  effect  appears  to  me  to  be  a  very  serious  one.  The 
delegation  cannot  leave  Dublin  till  to-morrow  ;  and  as  prooably  it  will 
not  be  composed  of  persons  who  travel  like  couriers,  the  Prince  will  not 
be  able  to  make  an  answer  till  he  is  actually  Regent  here.  I  think  this 
object  so  material  that  our  friends  ought  more  than  ever  to  avoid  any- 
thing that  tends  to  delay  here. 

"  If  the  bill  is  passed  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  the  Prince's 
answer,  which  must  be  acceptance,  with  expression  of  sensibility  to  the 
confidence  in  him.  If,  in  spite  of  my  calculations,  he  should  be  obliged 
to  make  his  answer  before  the  bill  has  passed — which,  by  the  way,  i 
hardly  think  possible — it  must  be  couched  in  some  general  terms  to 
which  the  acts  he  will  do  in  a  few  days  after  must  give  the  construction 
of  acceptance.  The  fact  is,  our  friends  have  gone  too  fast  in  Dublin  ; 
but  how  could  they  conceive  our  extreme  slowness  here  1" — Correspond- 
ence of  Charles  James  Fox,  vol.  ii.  p.  301.  Ireland,  loyal  or  disloyal,  waa 
sure  to  be  in  the  wrong. 


FA  TRIO  TISM    V  A7.V  U  >   />  J  ]'. 


151 


Parliament  was  obliged  to  send  delegates.  Previous  to 
their  departure,  tlie  following  resolution  was  carried  by 
115  to  S3:  "That  his  Excellency's  answer  to  both 
Houses  of  Parliament,  requesting  him  to  transmit  their 
address  to  his  Royal  Highness,  is  ill-advised,  contains 
an  unwarrantable  and  unconstitutional  censure  on  the 
proceedings  of  both  Houses,  and  attempts  to  question  the 
undoubted  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Lords  spiritual  and 
temporal,  and  of  the  Commons  of  Ireland.'' 

A  desperate  struggle  nowT  commenced  between  the 
viceroy  and  the  Parliament.  It  resolved  itself  into  pa- 
triotism versus  pay.  Men  who  had  no  personal  interest 
in  the  country  could  not  be  expected  to  be  very  patriotic, 
and  pay  carried  the  day. 

Peerages  were  sold  openly  and  shamelessly,  and  the 
money  thus  obtained  was  spent  in  bribing  those  to  whom 
money  was  more  necessary,  or  more  gratifying  than  "auk. 
Mr  Firzgibbon  gave  it  to  be  understood  that  half  a  million 
of  money  was  placed  in  his  hands  for  this  purpose,  and  he 
casually  confessed  that  one  address  of  thanks  to  Lord  Town- 
eend  had  cost  the  nation  £500,000  a  few  j-ears  before. 

Grattan,  Curran,  and  Ponsonby  offered  to  prove  this 
bribery  at  the  time,  but  they  were  not  allowed.  Grattan's 
voice,  however,  could  not  be  easily  silenced  ;  and  he  ob- 
served at  a  later  period  : — 

"  The  threat  wras  put  into  its  f idlest  execution  ;  the  canvass  of 
the  minister  was  everywhere— in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  the 


PA  RLI A  MEN  TA  R  Y  COR  11  UP  T10N. 


lobby,  in  the  street,  at  the  door  of  the  parliamentary  undertakers, 
lapped  at  and  worn  by  the  little  caitiffs  of  Government,  who 
offered  amnesty  to  some,  honours  to  others,  and  corruption  to  all ; 
and  where  the  word  of  the  viceroy  was  doubted,  they  offered  their 
own.  According!}^,  we  find  a  number  of  parliamentary  provisions 
were  created,  and  divers  peerages  sold,  with  such  effect,  that  the 
same  Parliament  which  had  voted  the  chief  governor  a  criminal, 
did  immediately  after  give  that  very  governor  implicit  support.'*9 
"  They  began,"  said  Curran,  "with  the  sale  of  the  honour  of  the 
peerage — the  open  and  avowed  sale  for  money  of  the  peerage  to 
any  man  who  was  rich  and  shameless  enough  to  be  the  pur- 
chaser."1 

In  1790,  one  hundred  and  ten  placemen  sat  in  the 
House  of  Commons;  and  on  the  11th  of  July,  Mr  Forbes 
declared  that  the  pensions  had  been  recently  increased 
upwards  of  £100,000. 

It  was  little  wonder  that  when  O'Connell  arrived  in 
Dublin  in  1797  he  found  the  country  on  the  eve  of  a  rebel- 
lion, and  the  so-called  Irish  Parliament  about  to  extinguish 
itself  under  a  weight  of  infamy,  none  the  less  contemptible, 
because  it  was  heavily  gilded  over  by  pecuniary  greed. 

Note. 

"April  18,  1782. 

"  Sir, — I  shall  make  no  apology  for  writing  ;  in  the  present  posture 
of  things  I  should  rather  deem  it  necessary  to  make  an  apology  for  not 
writing.  Ireland  has  sent  an  Address,  stating  the  causes  of  her  discon- 
tents and  jealousies  ;  thus  the  question  between  the  two  nations  be- 
comes capable  of  a  specific  final  settlement.    We  are  acquitted  of  being 


9  Life  and  Times  of  Grattan,  vol.  iii.  p.  338. 
1  Life  of  Curran,  vol.  i.  p.  240. 


GRATTAS  OX  IRISH  AFFAIRS. 


153 


indefinite  in  discontents  and  jealousies  ;  we  have  stated  the  grounds  of 
them,  and  they  are  those  particular*  in  which  the  practical  constitution 
of  Ireland  is  diametrically  opposite  to  the  principles  of  British  liberty. 
A  foreign  legislation,  a  foreign  judicature,  a  legislative  Privy  Council, 
and  a  perpetual  army.  It  is  impossible  for  any  Irishman  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  any  part  of  such  a  constitution,  and  not  to  hold  in  the  most 
profound  contempt  the  constitution  of  England.  Thus  you  cannot  re- 
concile us  to  your  claim  of  power,  without  making  us  dangerous  to  your 
liberty  ;  and  you  also  will,  I  am  confident,  allow  that  in  stating  such 
enormities  as  just  causes  of  discontent  and  jealousy,  we  have  asked 
nothing  which  is  not  essential  to  our  liberty.  Thus  we  have  gained 
another  step  in  the  way  to  a  settlement.  "We  have  defined  our  desires 
and  limited  them,  and  committed  ourselves  only  to  what  is  indispensable 
to  our  freedom;  and  have  this  further  argument,  that  you  have  thought 
it  indispensable  to  yours.  One  question  then  only  remains — whether 
what  is  necessary  for  us  to  have,  is  safe  and  honourable  to  Great 
Britain  ? 

"The  perpetual  Mutiny  Law,  and  the  legislative  power  exercised  by 
the  councils  of  both  kingdoms,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  dwell  upon, 
inasmuch  as  I  make  no  doubt  you  hold  them  to  be  mischievous  or  use- 
less to  England.  The  legislative  power  of  the  Council  can't  be  material 
to  the  connection,  though  the  necessity  of  passing  bills  under  the  seal  of 
Gn  at  Britain  may  be  so.  The  power  of  suppressing  in  the  Irish,  and 
of  altering  in  the  English  Council,  never  has  been  useful  to  England  ; 
on  the  contrary,  frequently  the  cause  of  embarrassment  to  British 
government.  I  have  known  Privy  Councillors  agree  to  bills  in  Parlia- 
ment, and  in  Council  alter  them  materially  by  some  strong  clause  in- 
serted to  show  their  zeal  to  the  King,  at  the  expense  of  the  popularity  of 
Government  In  England,  an  Attorney-General,  or  his  clerk,  from 
ignorance,  or  corruption,  or  contempt,  may,  and  often  has,  inserted 
clauses  in  Irish  bills  which  have  involved  Irish  Governments  in  lasting 
consequences  with  the  people  ;  for  you  must  see  that  a  servant  of 
Government  in  Great  Britain,  uninformed  of  the  passions  of  Ireland, 
may,  in  the  full  exercise  of  legislative  power,  do  irreparable  mischief  to 
his  king  and  country,  without  being  responsible  to  either. 

"  I  could  mention  several  instances,  but  a  Mutiny  Bill  rendered  per- 
petual is  a  sufficient  one,  to  show  how  impolitic  that  law,  which  com- 
mits the  machine  of  the  constitution  and  the  passions  of  the  human 
mind  to  the  hand  of  one  man.    The  negativing  our  bills  is  a  right 


154 


GRATTAN  ON  IRISH  AFFAIRS. 


never  disputed  ;  the  poisoning  them  is  a  practice  we  do  most  ardently 
deprecate,  from  sound  reason  and  sad  experience  1  brought  to  Parlia- 
ment a  list  of  the  alterations  made,  for  the  last  ten  years,  in  Irish  bills 
by  the  Privy  Council  or  Attorney-General,  and  there  was  not  a  single 
alteration  made  upon  a  sound  legislative  motive  ;  sometimes  an  altera- 
tion to  vex  the  Presbyterians,  made  "by  the  bishops  ;  sometimes  an 
alteration  made  by  an  over  zealous  courtier,  to  make  Government 
obnoxious  and  to  render  himself  at  the  same  time  peculiarly  acceptable 
to  the  king ;  sometimes  an  alteration  from  ignorance,  and  not  seldom 
for  money. 

"  I  shall,  therefore,  suppose  the  power  of  the  Council  no  object  to  a 
principled  Administration,  and  no  vital  question  between  the  two  king- 
doms. We  shall  have  then  cleared  the  way  to  the  great  question  of 
supremacy  ;  for  I  conceive  the  legislative  and  judicative  supremacy  to 
be  one  question.  If  you  retain  the  legislative  power,  you  must  reserve 
the  final  determination  of  law,  because  you  alone  will  determine  the 
law,  in  support  of  your  claim  ;  whereas,  if  you  cede  the  claim,  the 
question  of  judicature  is  one  of  private  property,  not  national  ascend- 
ency, and  becomes  as  useless  to  you  as  it  is  opprobrious  to  us.  Besides, 
there  are  circumstances  which  render  the  appellant  judicature  to  you 
the  most  precarious  thing  imaginable.  The  Lords  of  Ireland  have  on 
their  journals  a  resolution,  that  they  are  ready  to  receive  appeals  ;  so 
that,  after  the  final  settlement  with  England,  if  the  judicature  was  not 
included,  any  attorney  might  renew  the  contest.  The  decrees  of  the 
Lords  of  England,  and  of  the  King's  Bench  likewise,  affecting  Ireland, 
are  executed  by  the  officers  of  the  Courts  of  Justice  of  Ireland.  The  judges 
of  Ireland  are  now  independent.  Two  of  the  barons,  or  judges,  may 
put  a  total  stop  to  the  judicature  of  the  Lords  of  England,  by  refusing 
to  lend  the  process  of  their  Courts  ;  so  that,  in  order  to  determine  your 
final  judicature,  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  go  further  than  the  authority 
of  a  few  judges,. independent  of  England  by  their  tenure,  dependent,  on 
[reland  by  their  residence,  and  perhaps  influenced  by  conscience  and  by 
oath.  Besides,  the  6th  of  George  I.  is  enacting  as  to  the  appealing,  as 
well  as  the  judicative  power.  If  the  former  part  stands,  we  are  divested 
of  our  supreme  judicature  by  an  actual  exercise  of  your  supreme  legis- 
lative power,  and  then  a  partial  repeal  would  be  defective  upon  prin- 
ciples legislative,  as  well  as  jurisdictive.  You  can't  cexle  your  legislative 
claim,  and  enjoy  your  jurisdictive  under  its  authority  and  exercise ;  and 
the  whole  law  must  (if  the  claim  of  legislature  is  ceded")  fall  totally 


GRATTAX  OX  IRIS /I  AFFAIRS 


155 


The  question  then  "between  the  two  nations  is  thus  reduced  to  one  point 
— Will  England  cede  the  claim  of  supremacy  ?  You  seem  willing  to 
cede  it.  Your  arguments  have  led  to  it.  When  I  say  your  arguments, 
I  mean  the  liberal  and  enlightened  part  of  England.  Both  nations,  by 
what  they  have  said— one  by  what  it  has  admitted,  and  the  other  by 
w  hat  it  has  asserted — have  made  the  claim  of  England  impracticable. 
The  reserve  of  that  claim,  of  course,  becomes  unprofitable  odium,  ?nd 
the  relinquishment  is  an  acquisition  of  affection  without  a  loss  of  power. 
Thus  the  question  between  the  two  nations  is  brought  to  a  mere  punc- 
tilio— Can  En  land  cede  with  dignity  \  I  submit  she  can  ;  for  if  she 
has  consented  to  enable  his  Majesty  to  repeal  all  the  laws  respecting 
America,  among  which  the  Declaratory  Act  is  one,  she  can  with  more 
majesty  repeal  the  Declaratory  Act  against  Ireland,  who  has  declared 
her  resolution  to  stand  and  fall  with  the  British  nation,  and  has  stated 
her  own  rights  by  appealing  not  to  your  fears,  but  your  magnanimity. 
You  will  please  to  observe  in  our  Address  a  veneration  for  the  pride,  as 
well  as  a  love  for  the  liberty  of  England.  You  will  see  in  our  manner 
of  transmitting  the  Address,  we  have  not  gone  to  Castle  with  volunteers 
is  in  1779.  It  was  expedient  to  resort  to  such  a  measure  with  your  pre- 
iecasors  in  office.  In  short,  sir,  you  will  see  in  our  requisition  nothing 
bat  what  is  essential  to  the  liberty  and  composure  of  our  country,  and 
consistent  with  the  dignity  and  interest  of  the  other.  These  things 
granted,  your  Administration  in  Ireland  will  certainly  meet  with  great 
support  :  I  mean  national  as  well  as  parliamentary.  In  consequence  of 
these  things,  some  laws  will  be  necessary — an  act  to  quiet  property  held 
under  former  judgments  or  decrees  in  England  ;  a  Mutiny  Bill ;  a  Bill 
to  modify  Poyning's  Law.  Possibly  it  might  be  judicious  that  some  of 
these  should  be  moved  by  the  Secretary  here — it  would  contribute  to  his 
popularity.  It  will  be  perhaps  prudent  to  adjourn  to  some  further  day, 
until  the  present  Administration  have  formed. 

"  Before  I  conclude  I  will  take  the  liberty  to  guard  you  against  a 
Wiijar  artifice,  which  the  old  Court  (by  that  I  mean  the  Carlisle  faction) 
will  incline  to  adopt.  They  will  perhaps  write  to  England  false  sug- 
gestions, that  Ireland  will  be  satisfied  with  less,  and  that  the  Irish 
Administration  are  sacrificing  to  Irish  popularity  British  rights ;  and 
then  they  will  instigate  Ireland  to  stand  upon  her  ultimatum,  and  thus 
embarrass  Government  and  betray  the  people.  I  know  this  practice 
was  adopted  in  Lord  Buckingham's  Administration  by  men  mortified 
by  his  frugality. 


ORATTAN  ON  IRISH  AFFAIRS. 


"  MWit  I  suggest,  if  you  mean  (as  I  am  well  inclined  to  believe,  and 
uliall  be  convinced  by  the  success  of  our  application)  a  Government  by 
privilege,  that  it  would  be  very  beneficial  to  the  character  of  your 
government  in  Ireland,  to  dismiss  from  their  official  connexions  with 
!  Government  some  notorious  consciences,  to  give  a  visible,  as  well  as  real, 
integrity  to  his  Majesty's  Councils  in  Ireland,  and  to  relieve  them 
from  a  certain  treachery  in  men,  who  will  obey  you  and  betray  you. 

"  it  vould  be  prudent  to  exhibit  to  the  public  eye  a  visible  constitu 
tional  Administration.  The  people  here  have  a  personal  antipathy  to 
some  men  here  wno  were  the  agents  of  former  corruption,  and  would 
feel  a  vindictive  delight  in  the  justice  of  discarding  them.  When  I  say 
t  his,  I  speak  of  a  measure  not  necessary  absolutely,  if  the  requisitions 
are  complied  with,  but  veiy  proper  and  very  necessary  to  elevate  the 
character  of  your  government,  and  to  protect  from  treachery  your  con- 
sultations ;  and  when  I  say  tins,  it  is  without  any  view  to  myself,  who 
under  the  constitutional  terms  s>ec  forth,  am  willing  to  take  any  part  in 
the  Administration,  provided  it  is  not  emolumentary.  Your  minister 
here  will  find  very  great  opportunities  for  vigorous  retrenchment,  such 
as  will  not  hazard  him  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  may  create  an 
enthusiasm  in  his  favour  without  doors. 

"  I  am  running  into  immoderate  length,  and  beg  to  conclude  with 
assurances  of  great  constitutional  hopes,  and  personal  admiration,  and 
am,  with  great  respect, 

"  Your  most  humble  and  obedient  nervant, 

"H.  Grattam. 


Cjaptcr  jfonrtj}. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  HUSH  REBELLION. 
1 7  90- 1 800. 

flOt  W0BTHEB5  WHIO  CLUB — THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN  CLUB  CATHOLIC  ftOOKKfli 

TO  THE  K1NQ — POLITICAL  COMMOTIONS  TREACHERY  OF  PITT — LOUD  Ml* 

WILLIAM,    THE   CATHOLIC   QUESTION,    AND   THE    BERKS  FORDS  MATNOOTH 

ESTABLISHED — THE   ORANGE   SOCIETY  CATHOLIC    CLEROT  OVERZKAL  OF 

O'CONNELL — ARRESTS — LIST  OF  SUSPECTED  PEBSONS — LOUD  CORNWa  I.I.  I  -.' 
ADMINISTRATION — THE  CROMWELL  POLICY —  STATE  OF  TUfcl  PLASANTHY  — 
TEST!  MOBY  O?  MABY  LEADBXTTSA. 


,  ,  T  tlie  period  when  O'Connell 
I  arrived  in  Dublin  in  the  year 

1707,  he  hud  heard  enough  of  the 
y^y  state  of  public   affairs    t<>  be  fully 
r)  9     aware  that  a  dark,  deep,  and  deadly 
struggle  was   at  hand.    It  had,  in 
fact,  already  commenced. 

In  1790,  the  Northern  AVhig  Club  was 
established  in  Belfast,  at  the  suggestion  of  Lord 
Charlemont.  Heform  and  parliamentary  inde- 
pendence were  its  avowed  and  probably  its  real 
objects.  But  neither  Irish  nor  English  Protest- 
ants were  as  yet  free  from  the  illogical  bigotry 
of  prejudice,  and  they  declared  that  "  no  person 
ought  to  suffer  civil  hardships  for  his  religious 
persuasion,  unless  the  tenets  of  his  religion  lead 
him  to  endeavour  at  the  subversion  of  the  State." 


ICO 


THE  EATING  AND  DRINKING  CLUB. 


There  was  a  gleam  of  intelligence  in  the  implied  possi- 
bility that  it  might  not  be  right,  under  some  certain  cir- 
cumstances, to  persecute  a  man  for  following  the  dictates 
of  his  conscience;  there  was  an  alloy  of  prejudice  in  the 
suggestion  that  Catholics,  who  were  alluded  to,  would, 
or  did  attempt  to  subvert  the  State.  Possibly,  however, 
and  we  think  probably,  it  was  a  sop  to  the  Cerberus 
of  Protestant  ascendency,  a  declaration  that,  though  they 
were  liberal,  they  would,  under  certain  circumstances,  be 
willing  to  act  illiberally.  It  was  something  certainly 
to  the  credit  of  humanity  that  a  time  had  arrived  when 
Catholics  were  not  avowedly  persecuted  without  the  ready 
excuse  of  disloyalty. 

A  banquet  followed,  and  the  toast  of  "  the  glorious  and 
immortal  memory  "  was  duly  honoured,  though  probably 
nine-tenths  of  those  who  quaffed  the  libation  to  the  shades 
of  the  departed  hero,  would  have  been  sorely  puzzled  to  tell 
why  he  was  styled  "  glorious,"  and,  having  serious  doubts 
as  to  the  immortality  of  the  human  race,  would  hardly 
have  believed  in  his. 

Lord  Clare  termed  it  an  "eating  and  drinking  clubh- 
and no  doubt  it  was.  There  was  certainly  a  good  deal  of 
drinking.  On  the  14th  July  1791,  the  anniversary  of  the 
French  Revolution  was  celebrated  by  the  Protestant 
patriots,  and  they  drank  to  the  memoiy  of  "  Thomas 
Paine,"  and  "  the  rights  of  man,"  to  "  the  glorious: 
memory,"  and  to  "  the  majesty  of  the  people."    Notwith-  . 


LIED   OF  RESPECTABILITY. 


1(51 


standing  all  this  drinking,  or  perhaps  because  of  it,  the 
club  died  out. 

But  the  principles  which  animated  the  club  did  not  die 
out.  It  died  of  respectability.  When  some  of  the  men 
who  had  helped  to  inaugurate  it  found  that  the  club  meant 
something  more  than  talking  and  drinking,  they  gradual ly 
withdrew.  Lord  Charlemont  had  been  a  member,  and 
Lord  de  Clifford,  and  the  Earl  of  Moira,  and  the  Hon. 
Robert  Stewart,  afterwards  Lord  Castlereagb.  But  the 
men  who  really  instituted  it  were  there  still.  Henry  Joy, 
M'Cracken,  Russell,  and,  above  all,  Samuel  Neilson,  set 
themselves  to  form  another  club,  a  political  club.  Mr 
Neilson  went  further  than  his  friends;  he  suggested  that 
Catholics  should  be  permitted  to  join  it. 

Perhaps  he  saw  that  such  a  movement  as  he  contem- 
plated could  not  be  effected  without  the  co-operation  of 
his  Catholic  fellow-subjects.'    It  was  very  well  to  talk  of 

*  The  following  extracts  from  the  "Lives  and  Times  of  the  United 
Irishmen,"  second  series,  vol.  i.  p.  79,  will  show  how  the  blameless  and 
exemplary  life  of  a  poor  Catholic  servant  was  the  means  of  removing  pre- 
judice. Alter  all.  personal  knowledge  of  Catholics  in  private  life  seldom 
failed  tu  do  so. 

"  Neilson  on  this  occasion  said,  1  Oar  efforts  for  reform  hitherto  have 
been  ineffectual,  and  they  deserved  to  be  so,  for  they  have  been  selfish 
and  unjust,  as  not  including  the  rights  of  the  Catholics  in  the  claims  we 
put  forward  for  ourselves,'  The  evening  of  that  day,  when  the  subject 
was  first  mooted,  M'Cracken,  on  his  return  home,  mentioned  thecircum- 
htantc  to  a  member  of  his  family,  who,  in  reference  to  the  proposed  club, 
expressed  some  doubts  of  Roman  Catholics  being  sutficiently  enlightened 
to  co-jperate  with  them,  or  to  be  trusted  by  their  party,  M'Cracken, 

L 


162 


D  UNO  ANN  ON  CONVENTION. 


public  action,  but  public  action  required  men  to  act,  and 
the  handful  of  Protestants,  however  important  they  might 
be  in  the  eyes  of  Government,  had  not  material  strength 
For  any  movement  requiring  physical  force.  Whether  the 
United  Irishmen  looked  to  physical  force  at  the  commence- 
ment of  their  career  or  not,  we  cannot  say,  but  there  are 
many  reasons  for  supposing  that  they  did.  In  the  first 
place,  they  were  ardent  admirers  of  the  French  Revolution; 
in  the  second  place,  they  had  a  good  many  years'  experi- 
ence of  the  uselessness  of  addresses  and  petitions. 

The  famous  Dun  cannon  convention  was  held  on  the 
26th  of  December  1792;  Neilson  acted  as  secretary.  A 
Protestant  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Mr  Kelburne,  used  some 
strong  language  about  "  our  boasted  constitution,"  and 
some  language  which  must  have   then  sounded  rather 

with  great  earnestness,  endeavoured  to  show  the  groundlessness  of  the 
prejudices  that  were  entertained  against  the  Catholics.  His  opinions 
were  shared  by  one  of  his  sisters  (to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  these  par- 
ticulars),  a  person  even  then  in  advance  of  public  opinion  on  the  subject 
in  question,  and  whose  noble  sentiments  on  most  matters  were  above 
the  level  of  those  of  ordinary  mind's.  Her  brother,  she.  informs  me, 
asked  the  relative  who  had  expressed  the  apprehensions  referred  to,  il 
there  was  not  a  poor  old  blind  woman  under  their  roof,  who  had  spent 
the  best  part  of  her  life  in  their  family,  and  although  she  was  a  Roman 
Catholic,  was  there  anything  in  this  world  they  would  not  trust  to  hei 
fidelity  ?  and  if  they  put  their  whole  confidence  in  her  because  they 
happened  to  be  acquainted  with  her,  why  should  thfty  think  .so  ill  ti 
those  of  the  same  creed  whom  they  did  not  know  ?  Ihese  details,  1  rivial 
as  they  may  seem,  are  calculated  to  throw  some  light  on  the  original 
views  and  principles  of  those  persons  who  were  the  founders  of  ih« 
Northern  Society  of  United  Irishmen." 


EMANCIPATION  A  NECESSITY. 


163 


treasonable  about  "  hereditary  legislation  M  not  being 
desirable,  because  lords  did  not  always  inherit  wisdom 
with  their  rank. 

On  the  loth  of  July  1793,  however,  the  delegates  had  a 
Meeting,  and  expressed  themselves  a  little  more  cautiously. 
They  passed  resolutions  disapproving  of  a  republican  form 
of  government  for  their  own  country,  and  expressed  their 
belief  that  Catholic  Emancipation  was  necessary  for  the 
safety  of  the  country.1 

The  Catlmlic-  came  forward  now,  but  not  without  con- 
siderable trepidation.  Accustomed  to  centuries  of  perse- 
cution, they  had  hitherto  only  bowed  to  the  tempest  as  it 
passed  over  them,  except  in  some  rare  instances  when  war 


3  At  a  public  meeting  held  in  Belfast,  on  the  19th  of  January  1793, 
in  address  to  his  Majesty  was  determined  on,  signed,  by  order  of  the 
meeting,  and  in  their  name,  by  Charles  Rankin,  chairman,  and  Samuel 
Neilson,  se  cretary  ;  expressive  of  their  gratitude  for  his  Majesty's  "  re- 
ebmmendation  of  the  situation  of  their  Catholic  brethren  and  fellow- 
subjects  to  the  attention  of  the  Irish  Parliament;"  and  conveying  the 
wannest  sentiments  of  loyalty  and  attachment  to  his  Majesty's  person. 

At  another  meeting  held  in  Belfast,  on  the  28th  of  January  1792,  the 
particulars  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  appendix,  Neilaon  took  an 
active  part.  In  reply  to  an  opinion  expressed  by  Mr  Henry  Joy,  "  That 
neither  the  Protestant  mind  was  sufficiently  prepared  to  grant,  nor  the 
Catholic  one  universally  prepared  to  receive,  a  plenary  and  immediate* 
exercise  of  every  right  which  members  of  a  State  can  possibly  possess  ; w 
— NeUson  expressed  his  "astonishment  at  hearing  that  or  any  part  of 
the  address  called  a  Catholic  question  \*  To  his  understanding,  "  it  no 
more  presented  a  Roman  Catholic  question  than  a  Church  question,  a 
Presbyterian,  a  Quaker,  an  Anabaptist,  or  a  mountain  question.  The 
true  question  teas,  whether  Irishmen  should  be  free," 


164 


RIOTS  IN  ENGLAND. 


seemed  the  only  hope  of  obtaining  liberty  to  worship  God 
as  their  conscience  bade  them.  The  plan  was  prepared  by 
Theobald  Wolfe  Tone,  a  Protestant.  The  Catholics  were 
to  meet  openly,  and  proceed  openly.  Five  gentlemen  were 
chosen  to  bear  their  address  to  the  king.  These  gentlemen 
were  Sir  Thomas  French,  Mr  Byrne,  Mr  Keogh,  Mr  Deve- 
reanx,  and  Mr  Bellew.  They  went  through  Belfast  on 
their  way  to  London.  It  was  not  their  direct  road  cer- 
tainly, but  the  Protestant  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen 
received  them  in  triumph,  and  the  northern  Presbyterians 
showed  their  advancement  in  political  enlightenment  by 
removing  the  horses  from  their  carriage,  and  dragging 
them  in  triumph  through  the  town. 

The  delegates  had  chosen  an  opportune  moment  for  theil 
visit  to  royalty.  There  were  fears  both  within  and  without; 
war  imminent  in  Europe  ;  and  in  England  there  were  ter- 
rible apprehensions  of  domestic  riot.  Several  associations 
had  been  formed  in  England  demanding  Parliamentary 
reform,  or  seeking  to  obtain  it  ;  hence  it  was  necessary 
that  war  in  Ireland  should  be  averted,  even  at  the  cost  of 
a  few  concessions.4 


*  On  the  13th  December  1792,  at  the  opening  of  the  session,  the  king 
addressed  Parliament  thus,  on  the  state  of  England  :— "The  seditious 
practices  which  had  been  in  a  great  measure  checked  by  your  firm  and 
explicit  declaration  in  the  last  session,  and  by  the  general  concurrence 
of  my  people  in  the  same  sentiments,  have  of  late  been  more  openly 
renewed,  and  with  increased  activity.  A  spirit  of  tumult  and  disorder 
(the  natural  consequence  of  such  practices)  has  shown  itself  in  acts  of 


SOMETIIIXG  MUST  BE  LOSE. 


165 


Several  acts  were  passed  to  avert  the  danger,  but  Irish- 
men had  begun  to  know  their  power,  the  power  of  united 
IrisLmer  ;  and  when  the  Portland  ministry  was  formed  in 
j  ^04,  it  was  found  that  something  more  substantial  was 
Itecessary.  Lord  Fitzwilliam  was  appointed  Lord-Lieu- 
tenant, and  for  the  first  time  G rattan  was  taken  into  the 
counc  ils  of  the  so-called  Irish  Government.    On  the  12th 


riot  and  insurrection,  which  required  the  interposition  of  a  military  force 
in  support  of  the  civil  magistrate.  The  industry  employed  to  excite  dis- 
content on  various  pretexts,  and  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  lias 
appeared  to  proceed  from  a  de.»ign  to  attempt  the  destruction  of  our 
happy  constitution,  and  the  subversion  of  all  order  and  govemmeut ; 
and  this  design  has  evidently  been  pursued  in  connection  and  concert 
with  persons  in  foreign  countries." 

Lord  John  Russell  observes,  in  his  "  Correspondence  of  Fox,"  vol  iiL 
p.  33 :  u  England,  Prussia,  and  Austria,  with  lofty  pretensions  of  fight- 
ing for  the  cause  of  religion  and  order,  had  each  separate  and  selfish 
objects,  while  the  French,  united  and  enthusiastic,  fought  for  a  mock 
liberty,  but  a  real  independence.  "With  the  Allies  it  was  a  war  some- 
times of  principles  ;  sometimes  of  provinces  ;  sometimes  to  restore  a 
monarchy,  sometimes  to  acquire  Martinique.  With  the  French  the 
most  horrible  tyranny,  the  most  systematic  murder  and  plunder  at 
home,  were  accompanied  by  the  most  brilliant  courage,  the  most 
scientific  plans  of  campaign,  and  the  most  entire  devotion  to  the  glory 
of  their  country." 

Mr  Fox  wrote  thus  to  Lord  Holland,  June  14,  1793  :  "  I  believe  the 
love  of  political  liberty  is  not  an  error  ;  but,  if  it  is  one,  I  am  sure  I 
never  shall  be  converted  from  it — and  I  hope  you  never  will.  If  it  be 
an  illusion,  it  is  one  that  has  brought  forth  more  of  the  best  qualities 
and  exertions  of  the  human  mind  than  all  other  causes  put  together  ;  and 
it  serves  to  give  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  world  which,  without  it, 
would  be  insipid  ;  but  it  is  unnecessary  to  preach  to  you  upon  this  sub- 
ject. It  was  only  when  political  liberty  was  asked  for  in  Ireland  tnat 
it  ceased  to  meet  with  the  admiration  of  English  statesmen." 


166 


THE  NATION  DUPED  AGAIN. 


of  July,  lie  obtained  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  the  relief  of 
( 'a  I  holies,  three  members  only  dissenting. 

But  once  more  the  nation  was  duped;  Lord  Fitzwilliam 
was  recalled  on  the  24tn  of  March.  Whether  the  English 
Government  really  intended  to  do  anything  for  Ireland  or 
not,  can  never  now  be  known.  If  they  intended  justice,  it 
was  a  pitMpie  intention  should  not  have  been  carried  out ; 
if  they  played  a  deceitful  game,  they  might  have  learned  by 
the  result  that  honesty,  even  in  political  matters,  is  the  best, 
because  it  is  the  wisest  policy.  Lord  Fitzwilliam  indeed 
declared  that  he  would  never  have  undertaken  the  govern- 
ment, if  Catholic  Emancipation  had  not  been  included  in 
the  ministerial  programme.  Possibly  Mr  Pitt  expected  to 
find  him  a  more  pliant  tool,  and  recalled  him  when  he 
found  the  metal  not  malleable.5 


5  "  There  were  some  members  of  the  Irish  Parliament  certainly  not 
disposed  to  favour  the  Catholic  claims,  who  saw  the  folly  of  this  kind  ol 
government.  Sir  Lawrence  Parsons  said  :  «  That  the  grant  of  supplies 
and  the  redress  of  grievances  should  go  hand  in  hand.  The  only  security 
the  country  had  was  a  short  Money  Bill ;  it  had  been  tried  in  1771) ;  it 
had  been  tried  in  1789  ;  and,  in  both  instances,  had  been  of  utility.  The 
people  had  been  led  to  expect  great  measures  ;  their  hopes  had  been 
raised,  and  now  were  about  to  be  blasted.  If  the  Cabinet  of  Great  Britain 
had  held  out  an  assent  to  the  Catholic  question,  and  had  afterwards 
retracted,  it  was  an  insult  to  the  nation  which  the  House  should  resent. 
There  had  been  no  meetings  ;  no  petitions  of  the  Protestants  against  the 
claims  of  the  Catholics.  It  would  thence  be  inferred  that  their  senti- 
ments were  nor  adverse  to  the  emancipation  ;  this  was  held  out  as  the 
leading  measure  of  administration  ;  the  Responsibility  Bill  was  an- 
other;  the  Reform  Bill  was  another.  In  consideration  of  these  measures 
additional  taxes  had  been  voted  to  the  amount  of  £250,000  :  but  now  it 


COXDUCT  OF  Mil  PITT. 


1C7 


But  the  Engli.-h  Government  were  perfectly  well  aware 
of  the  certain  result  of  this  treachery.  It  has  been  said 
again  and  again,  that  Mr  Pitt  wished  to  drive  the  Irish 
into  rebellion  in  order  to  effect  the  Union.  Whether 
be  deliberately  took  measures  to  that  effect  or  not,  cannot 
now  be  discovered,  but  his  public  acts  sufficiently  show 
that  if  he  had  not  that  intention,  he  was  at  least  fully 
aware  that  what  he  did,  aud  what  he  omitted  to  do,  would 
alike  lead  to  that  result.  His  conduct  was  mean  and 
dastardly;  no  noble-minded  man  would  have  deceived  a 
helpless  and  confident  people  as  he  deceived  the  Irish 
nation. 

"  It  was  not  until  the  Irish  Parliament  had  submitted  to 
heavy  burdens,  not  only  by  providing  for  the  security  of 
the  kingdom  by  great  military  establishments,  but  like- 
wise by  assisting  the  empire  at  large  in  the  moment  of  its 
greatest  distress,  by  aids  great  and  unparalleled  beyond  all 
example ;  it  was  not  till  Lord  Fitzwilliam's  popularity  had 
induced  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  faith  of  popular 

appeared  that  the  country  had  been  duped — that  nothing  was  to  be  done 
tot  the  p2up]e.  If  the  British  minister  persisted  in  such  infatuation, 
discontent  would  be  at  its  height,  the  army  must  be  increased,  and 
every  man  must  have  dragoons  in  his  house/  The  motion  was  rejected 
by  146  to  24.  Mr  Conolly  then  proposed  three  resolutions  : — 'That 
Lord  Fitzwilliam  by  his  public  conduct  since  his  arrival  in  Ireland  de- 
served the  thanks  of  the  House,  and  the  confidence  of  the  people.'  Never 
in  the  h istory  of  any  nation  can  there  be  found  such  duplicity,  such 
treachery,  and  such  meanness  as  was  practised  towards  the  people  oi 
Ireland."— Lift  of  G'rattan,  vol.  iv.  p.  18a 


168 


THE  CATHOLIC  QUESTION. 


questions,  to  grant  the  largest  supply  ever  demanded,  and 
B  larger  army  than  had  ever  before  been  voted  in  Ireland  ; 
it  was  not  till  he  had  laid  a  foundation  for  increasing  the 
established  force  of  the  country,  and  procured  a  vote  of 
£200,00C  for  the  general  defence  of  the  empire,  and 
'J 0,000  men  for  the  navy,  and  a  supply  to  the  amount  of 
£1,800,000,  that  the  British  Cabinet  proceeded  to  notice 
and  reply  to  Lord  Fitzwil  Ham's  letters.  Then,  for  the  first 
time,  the  dismissal  of  Mr  Cooke  and  Mr  Beresford  was 
complained  of,  and  made  a  charge  against  Lord  Fitzwilliam; 
then,  and  not  till  then,  commenced  the  accusations  against 
him  as  to  the  Catholic  question,  and  his  imputed  design  to 
overturn  the  constitution  in  Church  and  State.  But  a  re- 
ference to  the  proceedings  on  this  subject  will  show  the 
futility  of  this  charge,  and  that  it  was  a  mere  pretext. 
Let  it  be  recollected  that  this  question,  though  opposed  in 
1793  by  Lord  Westmoreland  and  his  friends,  had  been  sup- 
ported by  Mr  Hobart  (the  Irish  Secretary),  and  the  British 
Cabinet ;  that  Mr  Pitt  and  Mr  Dundas  (Lord  Melville), 
had  given  it  their  support ;  that  they  had  communicated 
their  intentions  to  the  Catholic  agents  in  London,  and 
their  expressions  (well  remembered  and  often  quoted) 
were,  that  "they  would  not  risk  a  rebellion  in  Ireland  on 
such  a  question ; "  yet  the  very  man  who  had  actually  agreed 
to  it,  in  conference  with  Mr  Grrattan  and  Lord  Fitzwilliam, 
and  to  the  former  of  whom  he  had  used  these  very  remark- 
able words,  "  I  have  taken  office,  and  I  have  done  so  be- 


LORD  FITZWILLIAM. 


169 


cause  I  knew  there  was  to  be  an  entire  change  of  system," 
— this  Duke  of  Portland,  in  his  letter  to  Lord  Fitzwilliam, 
gays  that  "  to  defer  the  Catholic  question  was  not  only  a 
thing  to  be  desired  for  the  present,  but  the  means  of  doing 
a  greater  service  to  the  British  empire  than  it  has  beeu 
curable  of  receiving  since  the  Revolution,  or  at  least  since 
the  Union." 

On  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Lord  Fitzwilliam  immedi- 
ately acted  with  a  spirit  and  resolution  worthy  of  him.  lie 
wrote  to  Mr  Pitt,  defended  the  dismissal  of  Mr  Beresford, 
as  necessary  to  the  eilicaey  of  his  government,  and  left  the 
minister  to  choose  between  him  and  Mr  Beresford.  lie 
wrote  the  6ame  night  to  the  Duke  of  Portland,  stating  his 
surprise  at  their  resisting  a  question  that  had  been  long 
since  agreed  upon,  and  this  at  the  expiration  of  such  an 
interval  of  time — namely,  from  the  8th  of  January,  when 
he  first  wrote  about  the  Catholic  question,  to  the  8th  of 
February,  when  it  was  first  objected  to  by  the  English 
ministers. 

He  stated  the  danger  of  hesitation  or  resistance,  and  he 
refused  to  be  the  person  to  raise  a  flame  in  the  country, 
that  nothing  short  of  arms  could  keep  down  ;  and  left  him 
to  determine  whether,  if  he  was  not  to  be  supported,  he 
ought  not  to  be  removed.6 

•  Life  of  Grattan,  vol.  iv.  p.  193.— The  Beresfords  knew  their  power 
well.  They  knew  also,  though  they  raised  a  "  No  Popery  "  cry,  that 
the  leaders  and  tirst  movers  of  the  United  Irishmen,  wlom  they  styled 


170 


MR  FORBES'  LETTER. 


On  the  25th  of  February  1795,  Mr  Forbes  wrote  to  Mr 
Sergeant  Adair.  He  concluded  his  letter  thus:  "It  is 
reported  that  Pitt  intends  to  overturn  the  Irish  Cabinet  by 
rejecting  Catholic  claims.  Should  he  pursue  that  line, 
England  will  be  involved  in  inextricable  confusion,  and  it 
will  end  in  the  total  alienation  of  Ireland." 

Burke  wrote  to  Mr  Grattan,  expressing  his  indignation 
at  the  wa}'  in  which  he  had  been  treated.  In  the  English 
Parliament,  there  was  a  scene  of  mutual  recrimination  con- 
cerning the  recall  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  but  no  one  con- 
cerned himself  much  about  the  effect  that  this  would  have 
in  Ireland. 

The  truth  was  that  the  Beresfords  had  determined  from 
the  first  to  get  rid  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  and  they  suc- 

"  devils,"  were  Protestants.  It  mattered  little  to  tliem  how  Ireland 
Buffered  so  they  held  place  and  pension.  On  the  4th  Sept.  1796,  Ml 
Beresford  wrote  to  his  friend  Lord  Auckland  :— 

"  The  United  Irishmen  of  the  north,  alias  the  Dissenters  and  the 
Defenders,  and  the  Papists  would  join  them  ;  these  two  classes  are 
bound  by  oaths,  &c,  whilst  the  mob  and  common  people,  not  sworn, 
M  ould  take  advantage,  and  plunder  everybody,  and  commit  murders  and 
such  extravagances  as  are  always  the  consequences  of  letting  loose  th« 
rabble.  The  utmost  pains  have  been  taken  by  these  devils,  the  United 
Irishmen,  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  different  classes  of  the  people  for 
mischief.  The  public  prints  are  of  the  most  seditious  and  inflammatory 
species.  They  have  a  vast  number  of  emissaries  constantly  going 
through  the  country,  to  seduce  every  person  they  can,  and  swear  them  ; 
they  have  songs  and  prophecies,  just  written,  stating  all  late  events  and 
what  is  to  happen,  as  if  made  several  years  ago,  in  order  to  persuade  th* 
people  that,  as  a  great  part  of  them  has  already  come  to  pass,  so  tha 
remainder  will  certainly  happen." 


COLLEGE  OF  MAY  SOOTH. 


171 


ceeded.7  Lord  Fitzwilliam  was  perfectly  aware  of  the 
cause  of  his  dismissal,  but  he  seems  to  have  felt  the  decep- 
tion which  had  been  practised  ou  the  Irish  nation  far  more 
than  the  injury  done  to  himself. 

Lord  Camden  succeeded,  and  as  the  Government  had 
anine  apprehensions  lest  the  Catholics  should  avenge  t.hem- 
eelves  in  any  way  for  the  duplicity  with  which  they  had 
been  treated,  it  was  proposed  to  establish  the  College  of 
Maynooth.  The  excuse  to  those  who  objected  to  granting 
even  the  least  favour  to  Catholics,  had  the  advantage  of 
being  a  plausible  one.  It  was  evident  that  no  amount  of 
penal  laws  would  prevent  Catholics  from  becoming  priests  ; 
it  was  evident,  it  was  indeed  a  matter  of  fact,  that  if  they 
were  not  allowed  to  be  educated  in  Ireland,  they  would  be 
educated  abroad.  It  was  said  that  being  educated  abroad 
tended  to  render  them  disloyal ;  and  certainly  to  deny  a  man 
education  in  his  own  country,  and  oblige  him  to  endure  the 
labour  and  expense  of  expatriation  in  order  to  obtain  it,  was 


I  Lord  Auckland  worked  up  the  Beresford  interest  in  London  quietly, 
and  with  the  steady  determination  which  generally  insures  success.  The 
Beresfords  held  their  power  solely  on  a  "  No  Popery "  cry.  Any 
liberality— or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  justice  to  Catholics — was  latal 
to  their  continuance  in  power,  because  they  had  made  their  political 
success  depend  on  their  religious  bigotry.  Mr  Beresford,  of  course, 
denied  his  great  political  power,  but  even  in  the  letter  which  he  wrote 
himself  to  Lord  Auckland,  who  acted  as  his  ambassador  in  the  affair,  he 
\rrote  so  strongly  of  his  "power  of  embarrassing  Govern ment,"  that  Lord 
Auckland  thought  it  best  to  keep  back  that  part  of  his  letter  even  from 
his  patron,  Mr  Pitt. — Bereaford  Correspondence,  vol.  ii.  pp.  56-84. 


172 


CONDITION  OF  TEE  PEOPLE. 


not  naturally  the  best  method  of  inducing  affection  for  the 
power  which  compelled  this  course.  It  was,  moreover, 
believed  that  if  Government  endowed  Maynooth  the  Irish 
hierarchy  would  feel  bound  in  return  to  support  Govern- 
ment. It  was  at  least  certain  to  all  but  the  most  obtuse 
that  a  rebellion  was  imminent  in  Ireland,  and  this  seemed 
a  probable  means  of  enlisting  the  Catholic  clergy  on  the 
side  of  England. 

The  times  were  becoming  daily  more  and  more  troubled, 
principally  because  the  condition  of  the  people  was  becoming 
daily  worse.  When  men  are  starving,  when  they  know 
that  their  starvation  is  caused  by  injustice,  they  are  seldom 
slow  to  redress  their  wrongs.  How  patiently  the  Irish  can 
suffer  when  famine  comes  to  them  as  a  direct  visitation 
from  God,  has  been  proved  in  later  years.  It  is  probable 
the  poor  Irish  Catholics  of  the  south  would  have  suffered  as 
patiently  if  they  had  not  been  roused  to  resistance  by  the 
stern  Presbyterians  of  the  north,  and  if  the  newly-formed 
Orange  Society  had  not  been  allowed  to  attack  them  with 
impunity. 

The  state  of  Ireland  at  this  period  was  certainly  fearfdJ 
and  an  eternal  disgrace  to  those  by  whom  it  was  governed. 

A  Protestant  writer  says  : — 

"  The  Government  thought,  at  least,  to  retain  the  Church  of 
England  faction  by  uniting  the  interest  of  the  '  Peep-of-Day  Boys' 
with  that  of  the  Church  of  England  gentry,  from  which  curious 
union  sprung,  in  1796,  the  Orange  Society,  sworn  to  maintain  the 
Protestant  ascendency  of  1688.    But  the  Orangemen  were  as 


ORANGE  OUTRAGES. 


173 


lawless  as  the  Defenders.  Lord  Gosford.  who  had  been  appointed 
joint  lord-lieutenant  of  the  county  of  Armagh  with  the  Earl  of 
Cbarlemont,  in  1791,  to  counterpoise  the  Whiggism  of  the  latter, 
found  it  necessary  in  December  1795,  to  convene  a  meeting  of 
the  magistrates  of  that  county,  and  call  on  them  to  put  a  stop 
to  tin-  barbarous  practices  of  the  Orange  Society.  It  sufficed  for 
a  man  to  profess  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  to  have  his  dwelling 
burnt  over  his  bead,  and  himself,  with  his  family,  banished  out  of 
the  county.  Nearly  half  the  inhabitants  of  the  county  of  Armagh 
luul  been  thus  expatriated.  To  check  these  outbreaks  of  Defenders 
ami  Orangemen,  Parliament,  early  in  1796,  passed  an  Insurrection 
Act.  Persons  administering  unlawful  oaths  were  to  suffer  death, 
and  those  who  took  them  transportation.  But  in  the  terrible 
times  which  ensued,  this  evil  was  allowed  to  work  only  one  way. 
The  Orangemen,  ami  otb.T  Protestant  insurrectionists,  were 
allowed  to  bear  arms,  and  to  use  them  as  they  pleased.  The 
penalties  all  fell  upon  the  unhappy  Catholics,  and  on  such  Pro- 
tectants as  had  joined  the  United  Irishmen,  a  numerous  and 
powerful  body." 

The  high  sheriff  of  Gal  way,  Charles  Blake,  addressed 
Grattan  on  the  alarming  state  of  affairs,  in  the  name  and 
by  the  desire  of  the  gentlemen  and  freeholders  of  the 
county.  They  declared  it  "highly  honourable"  to  him, 
though  not  to  the  age,  that  his  dismissal  from  office  was 
considered  "  a  necessary  and  previous  stage  to  the  return 
of  some  that  are  not  reported  to  love  the  people."  The 
letter  was  short,  manly,  intelligent,  and  worthy  of  the  men 
of  Gal  way. 

The  students  of  Dublin  University  addressed  him.  and, 
with  a  liberality  quite  beyond  the  age,  declared  mrt<*t 
truly  "  that  the  harmony  and  strength  of  Ireland  will  be 


174 


THE  CATHOLIC  CLERGY. 


founded  on  the  solid  basis  of  Catholic  Emancipation,  and 
the  reform  of  those  grievances  which  have  inflamed  public 
indignation."8 

Even  at  that  moment,  if  the  least  effort  had  been  made  in 
the  direction  of  justice  to  Catholics,  and  if  even  a  trifling 
instalment  of  the  justice  which  has  since  been  done  to  them 
had  been  attempted,  the  rebellion  of  1798  might  never  have 
been,  and  a  legacy  of  hatred  to  England  might  have  been 
averted. 

The  Catholic  clergy  were  wholly  on  the  side  of  order; 
but  what  could  they  do  with  a  starving  people  ?  England 
had  destroyed  Irish  trade;  they  could  not  excuse  this;  they 
could  not  say  it  is  your  own  fault,  that  you  are  starving, 
bear  it  as  a  calamity  which  you  have  brought  on  yourselves. 
England  still  persecuted  their  religion,  and  what  was 
worse,  permitted,  if  she  did  not  actually  encourage,  Irish 
Protestants  to  massacre  their  fellow-subjects  because  they 
were  Irish  Catholics.  Could  this  be  defended  ?  Yet  they 
did  what  they  could  ;  they  practised  patience,  they  practised 
submission,  they  preached  practical  Christianity  ;  and  if 
their  lessons  had  no  effect,  it  was  not  because  Irish  Catho- 
lics were  less  faithful  to  the  teaching  of  their  holy  faith 
than  they  had  been  in  former  ages,  but  because  they  believed 
that  their  cause  was  a  just  one.9 

8  Life  of  Grattan,  by  his  Son,  vol.  iv.  pp.  222,  223. 

9  On  the  10th  March  1798,  Dr  Lanigan,  the  Catholic  Bishop  of 

Ossoiyi  wrote  thus  to  Dr  Troy,  the  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Dublin 


DR  LAXIGAX'S  LETTER. 


Negotiations  were  opened  with  the  French  Government 
by  the  United  Irishmen  in  1796.  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, 
Arthur  O'Connor,  a  gentleman  of  property  in  the  county 
of  Cork,  and  Theobald  "Wolfe  Tone,  a  barrister,  were  the 
persons  selected  for  this  undertaking. 

O'ConnelFs  son,  in  writing  his  father's  Memoir,  was 
naturally  anxious  to  screen  his  father  from  the  discredit 

'■  B.yi.lyragget,  March  10,  1798. 

"  Most  Rev.  Sir, — I  was  absent  from  Kilkenny  these  eight  days,  and 
•■•a  great  part  of  that  time  occupied  with  the  priests  that  border  on  the 
Queen's  County,  in  consulting  them,  and  concerting  measures  with  them 
in  Older  to  prev<  nt,  if  possible,  the  introduction  of  United  Irishmen  and 
(their  principles  into  this  county.  The  letter  you  honoured  me  with 
was  Bent  alter  me,  and  I  received  it  there.  1  could  make  this  short  but 
true  answer  to  it,  that  the  charges  mentioned  there  against  the  priests 
and  me  are  false,  malicious,  and  groundless.  It  is  necessary,  perhaps, 
to  prove  this  more  at  large.  I  beg  your  patience,  then,  while  I  state 
the  facts  as  they  happened. 

"A  sermon  was  preached  in  St  James's  chapel,  about  a  month  ago,  on 
faith,  it3  necessity,  its  utility,  and  tiie  conditions  required  for  true 
faith.  The  preacher  had  in  view  oniy  to  confute  the  lax  principles  of 
the  richer  Roman  Catholics,  who,  under  pretext  of  liberality  of  senti- 
ment, wished  to  establish  an  indifference  about  all  religion  and  all  reli- 
gious modes  of  worship.'' — Memoirs  of  Viscount  Castlcreagh,  vol.  i.  p.  I  CI. 

The  upper  classes  of  Catholics  were  sorely  tempted  to  apostatise. 
The  cause  of  this  temptation  has  been  already  fully  explained.  The 
consequence  was  that  they  kept  very  much  aloof  from  their  formei 
( 'atholic  brethren.  Mr  Grattan  says,  in  his  "  Life  of  his  Father,"  vol.  iv. 
j).  5'):  ''In  late  as  well  as  in  early  times  the  Irish  aristocracy  have 
attached  themselves  too  much  to  party  in  England,  and  have  forgotten 
the  real  interests  of  their  own  nation.  The  wise  policy  would  have  been 
to  have  attended  exclusively  to  their  own  country — a  course  more  politic, 
though  less  profitable.*  The  treatment  which  the  upper  classes  hail 
received  duri'og  the  Irish  revolution  tended  to  strengthen  this  feeliuj 
•till  greater. 


17(5         0' CON  NELL  A    UNITED  IRISHMAN 

of  being  a  United  Irishman.  That  he  was  there  is  not 
the  slightest  doubt,  for  he  has  left  the  fact  on  record  himself. 
His  naturally  enthusiastic  temperament  led  him  to  throw 
himself  eagerly  into  any  scheme  likely  to  benefit  his 
country.  He  joined  the  artillery  corps  on  his  arrival  in 
Dublin  ;  and  the  division  to  which  he  belonged,  known  as 
the  "  Lawyers'  Artillery,"  was  said  to  have  been  the  best 
got  up,  and  the  best  equipped  in  Dublin.1 

He  also  joined  a  debating  society  which  met  in  Eustace 
Street,  where  the  stirring  events  of  the  times  were  freely 
canvassed.    Here,  he  says  : — 

"  I  had  many  good  opportunities  of  acquiring  valuable  informa- 
tion, upon  which  I  very  soon  formed  my  own  judgment.  It  was 
a  terrible  time.  The  political  leaders  of  the  period  could  not  con- 
ceive such  a  thing  as  a  perfectly  open  and  above-board  political 
machinery.  My  friend,  Richard  Newton  Bennett,  was  an  adjunct 
to  the  Directory  of  United  Irishmen.  I  was  myself  a  United 
Irishman.  As  I  saw  how  matters  worked,  I  soon  learned  to  have 
no  secrets  in  politics."2 

O'Connell  lodged  in  Trinity  Place.    A  gentleman  who 

1  The  uniform  of  the  lawyers'  corps  was  scarlet  and  blue,  their  motto, 
Pro  aris  et  focis  ;  the  attorneys'  regiment  of  Volunteers  was  scarlet  and 
Pomona  green  ;  a  corps  called  the  Irish  Brigade,  and  composed  princi- 
pally of  Catholics  (after  the  increasing  liberality  of  the  day  had  per- 
mitted them  to  become  Volunteers)  wore  scarlet  and  white  ;  other  legi- 
ments  of  Irish  brigades  wore  scarlet  faced  with  green,  and  their  mott 
was  Vox  populi  supremo,  lex  est ;  the  goldsmiths'  corps,  commanded  by 
the  Duke  of  Leinster,  wore  blue,  faced  with  scarlet  and  a  prr  fessional 
prof usi  an  of  gold  lace. 

8  Personal  Recollections,  by  O'Neill  Daunt. 


O'COXXELL  IX  D  A  NO  EH 


177 


knew  Dublin  well  at  that  period  describes  it  as  "  an  almost- 
unexplored  nook."  He  was  very  intimate  with  Mr  Murray, 
a  respectable  grocer,  who  resided  at  No.  3  South  Great 
George  Street,  and  who,  like  most  Irishmen  of  the  period, 
was  in  heart  a  rebel.  That  O'Connell  was  then  in  favour 
of  physical  force  there  can  be  no  doubt,  however  he  may 
have  wished  in  later  years  to  throw  a  veil  of  oblivion  over 
his  boyish  ardour.  A  rising  was  expected  literally  every 
night,  and  Major  Sirr  was  patrolling  Dublin  eager  to  exer- 
cise his  bloody  mission  on  the  suspected. 

On  one  memorable  evening  O'Connell,  excited  partly  by 
drink  and  partly  by  patriotism,  and  always  ready  to  be  first 
in  the  fray,  was  eager  to  join  a  meeting  of  United  Irishmen 
that  very  night,  and  to  swear  in  new  members,  but  his 
host,  more  prudent,  though  by  no  means  less  patriotic,* 
induced  the   enthusiastic  youth  to  accompany  him  to 


8  Mr  Murray's  son,  who  must  have  been  thoroughly  well-informed  on 
the  subject,  lias  left  the  following  account  of  the  affair  on  record,  which 
I  quote  from  the  "  Sham  Squire,"  with  the  author's  permission  : — "  We 
are  indebted  to  the  late  Mr  Peter  Murray,  of  the  Registry  of  Deeds 
Office.  Dublin,  a  man  of  scrupulous  veracity,  for  the  following  curious 
reminiscence  of  O'Connell  in  1798  : — 1  My  father,  a  respectable  cheese- 
monger and  grocer,  residing  at  3  South  Great  George  Street,  was  ex- 
ceedingly intimate  with  O'Connell,  when  a  law  student,  and  during  his 
earlier  career  at  the  bar.  Mr  O'Connell,  at  the  period  of  which  I  speak, 
lodged  in  Trinity  Place  adjacent,  an  almost  unexplored  nook,  and  to 
many  of  our  citizens  a  terra  incognita.  I  well  remember  O'Connell, 
one  night  at  my  father's  house  during  the  spring  of  1798,  so  carried 
away  by  the  political  excitement  of  the  day,  and  by  the  ardour  of  his 
innate  patriotism,  calling  for  a  prayer-book  to  swear  in  some  zualoua 

M 


178 


A   NARROW  USC APR 


the  canal  bridge  at  Leeson  Street,  where  he  saw  him  safely 
mi  hoard  a  turf  boat,  and  out  of  harm's  way.  It  was  well 
thai  this  had  been  accomplished,  for  Mr  Murray's  house 
w  as  searched  that  night  by  Major  Sirr. 

In  one  ofO'Connell's  communications  to  Mr  O'Neill  Daunt, 
he  mentions  leaving  Dublin  in  June  1798  in  a  boat,  and 
having  paid  the  pilot  half  a  guinea  to  put  him  on  shore  at 
Cork.  Indeed,  it  was  impossible  at  that  time  to  travel  in 
any  other  way.  Bands  of  armed  men  were  marching  in 
every  direction  through  the  country,  and  as  neither  party 
was  very  particular  as  to  identity,  the  most  peaceful  tra- 
veller was  not  free  from  danger.    It  would,  appear  probable 

young  men  as  United  Irishmen  at  a  meeting  of  the  body  in  a  neigh 

bouring  street.    Counsellor  —  was  there,  and  offered  to  accompany 

O'Connell  on  his  perilous  mission.  My  father,  although  an  Irishman 
of  advanced  liberal  views  and  strong  patriotism,  was  not  a  United  Irish- 
man, and  endeavoured,  but  without  effect,  to  deter  his  young  and  gifted 
friend  from  the  rash  course  in  which  he  seemed  embarked.  Dublin 
was  in  an  extremely  disturbed  state,  and  the  outburst  of  a  bloody  in- 
surrection seemed  hourly  imminent.  My  father  resolved  to  exert  to  the 
uttermost  the  influence  which  it  was  well  known  he  possessed  over  hia 
young  friend.  He  made  him  accompany  him  to  the  canal  bridge  at 
Leeson  Street,  and  after  an  earnest  conversation,  succeeded  in  persuad- 
ing the  future  Liberator  to  step  into  a  turf  boat  which  was  then 
leaving  Dublin.  That  night  my  father's  house  was  searched  hy 
Major  Sirr,  accompanied  by  the  attorneys'  corps  of  yeomanry,  who 
pillaged  it  to  their  hearts'  content.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  private 
information  of  O'Connell's  tendencies  and  haunts  had  been  communi- 
cated to  the  government.' "—The  Sham  Squire;  or,  The  Rebellion  in  In* 
land,  page  305.    Dublin  :  Kelly. 

Mr  John  O'Connell  gives  an  account  of  the  affair  which  was  evi- 
dently "  revised."    He  says  :— "  On  one  occasion,  however  (perhaps  th« 


OUT  OF  HA  RIPS  WAT. 


176 


that  O'Connell  remained  in  the  peaceful  wilds  of  Kerry 
during  the  most  eventful  period  of  the  Rebellion.  It  was 
at  that  time  that  he  contracted  the  fever  previously  men- 
tioned. But  even  then  news  travelled  to  that  remote 
locality,  and  the  terrible  Revolution  of '08  was  read,  not  as 
we  read  it  now.  as  a  tale  of  horrors  long  past,  but  as  a 
terrible  tragedy  then  being  enacted  hour  by  hour,  and  of 
which  the  end  waa  not  known  yet. 


only  one  of  his  life),  at  the  table  of  Mr  Murray,  already  mentioned,  about 
the  month  of  March  of  the  year  179S,  he  was  betrayed,  by  the  heat  of  a 
political  discussion,  into  some  forget  fulness  of  his  constant  habit  of  tem- 
perance ;  and  took  what  to  him  was  inconvenient,  although  to  the  well- 
SOaked  brains  of  most  of  his  compeers  it  would  have  been  of  no  conse- 
quence. Returning  that  night  full  of  self  reproach  and  annoyance  at 
the  unaccustomed  sensations  he  had  subjected  himself  to,  his  interposi- 
tion to  save  a  wretched  female  from  the  blows  of  some  cowardly  ruffians, 
in  the  garb  of  gentlemen,  drew  upon  him  the  attack  of  the  whole  party  ; 
but  for  a  while  (owing  to  his  great  strength  and  activity)  with  signal  dis- 
comfiture to  themselves,  three  being  knocked  down  by  him  in  succes- 
sion. However,  one  of  the  latter,  on  getting  up,  came  behind  and 
pinioned  him,  and  so  he  was  overpowered — receiving,  while  in  this  de- 
fenceless position,  and  ere  he  could  free  himself,  several  blows  on  the 
face,  by  which  it  was  so  disfigured  as  to  render  a  few  days'  confinement 
to  the  house  advisable.  While  under  this  irksome  restraint,  his  land- 
lord, a  most  respectable  tradesman  (well  known  long  afterwards  to  the 
theatre-going  folk  as  Regan  the  fruiterer),  then  purveyor  to  the  Castle 
of  Dublin,  took  the  liberty  of  his  years,  and  permitted  but  respectful 
familiarity,  to  warn  his  young  lodger  from  committing  himself  politically 
■ — detailing  the  dark  hints  rife  in  the  purlieus  of  the  Castle,  of  the  deep 
and  fearful  game  the  government  were  playing  in  allowing  the  insur- 
rection to  mature,  while  they  kept  themselves  ready,  and  had  it  in  their 
power  to  lay  hands  upon  its  leaders  at  any  moment. " — Memoir*  / 
(SConnell,  by  his  Son,  vol.  i.  p.  15. 


ISO 


LORD  EDWARD  FITZGERALD. 


0  rattan  withdrew  from  politics,  hopeless  of  inducing  the 
Government  to  do  justice,  or  the  people  to  bear  injustice. 
The  United  Irishmen  only  numbered  two  men  of  rank 
amongst  their  leaders,  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald  and  Arthur 
O'Connor.  Lord  Edward  belonged  to  the  noble  hoiuc  of 
Leinster,  and  had  learned  to  desire  liberty,  not  for  a  class, 
but  for  all,  first  in  America,4  where  he  had  served  under 
Lord  Cornwallis,  and  then  in  France,  where  he  had  attended 

4  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald's  letters  to  his  mother  from  America  show 
the  singular  tenderness  of  his  nature,  and  his  delicate  though tf umess 
for  others,  and  especially  for  his  good  mother.  He  wrote,  "  She  has  a 
rope  about  my  neck  that  gives  hard  tugs  at  it,  and  it  is  all  I  can  do  not 
to  give  way."  How  terrible  was  the  last  "  giving  way  "  of  that  fond 
heart,  can  only  be  realised  by  natures  as  sensitive  as  his.  Writing  about 
some  business,  he  says — "  I  believe  there  is  vn  Men  clique  of  fellowa 
in  that  country.  Pray  do  not  let  any  of  them  into  Eilrush,  for  they 
will  only  distress  and  domineer  over  the  poor  tenants." — Memoirs  of 
Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  vol.  i.  p.  124.  Lord  Edward  was  treated  most 
cruelly  after  his  capture,  notwithstanding  his  high  rank.  It  is  said  that 
Lord  Clare  urged  him  to  escape,  and  said  every  port  in  the  country  would 
be  left  open  to  him,  but  his  nature  was  far  too  chivalrous  to  seek  his  own 
safety  while  others  were  in  danger. 

The  late  Lord  Holland  furnishes,  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  many  interesting 
illustrations  of  Lord  Edward's  sweet  and  gentle  disposition  :— "  With 
the  most  unaffected  simplicity  and  good  nature  he  would  palliate,  from 
the  force  of  circumstances  or  the  accident  of  situation,  the  perpetrators 
of  the  very  enormities  which  had  raised  his  high  spirit  and  compassionate 
nature  to  conspire  and  resist.  It  was  this  kindness  of  heart  that  led 
him,  on  his  deathbed,  to  acquit  the  officer  who  inflicted  his  wounds  of 
all  malice,  and  even  to  commend  him  for  an  honest  discharge  of  hia 
duty.  It  was  this  sweetness  of  disposition  that  enabled  him  to  dismiss 
with  good  humour  one  of  his  bitterest  persecutors,  who  had  visited  him 
in  his  mangled  condition,  if  not  to  insult  his  misfortunes,  with  the  idle 
hope  of  extoi  ting  l  is  secret.    <  I  would  shafce  hands  willingly  with  you,' 


ARREST  OF  FIFTEEN  LEADERS.  181 


a  political  dinner,  at  which  lie  accepted  the  title  of  u  citi- 
zen." O'Connor  was  nephew  and  heir  to  Lord  Longueville, 
by  whom  he  was  brought  into  Parliament  in  1790. 

Fifteen  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen  were  seized  in 
Belfast  on  the  14th  of  April  1797.  They  were  all  Protes- 
tants, and  of  the  number  there  were  seven  Presbyterian 
ministers,  and  three  Covenanters.  Their  papers  were  exa- 
mined, and  alforded  an  excuse  for  fresh  cruelties.  In  the 
very  face  of  the  fact,  that  these  men,  who  were  the  real 
originators  of  the  revolt,  were  Protestants,  the  fiercest 
punishments  were  inflicted  on  the  Catholics.  When  Lord 
Cornwall  is  arrived  in  Ireland,  he  found  his  dilHeulty  was 
not  so  much  to  repress  the  rebellion  as  to  quiet  those  who 
were  exciting  and  increasing  it  by  their  blood-thirsty  rage. 
Every  one  who  had  a  grudge  against  a  neighbour  denounced 
him  as  a  rebel.  Every  one  who  wanted  to  gain  favour 
with  government  sent  in  a  list  of  suspected  persons.  This 
was  often  done  secretly;  no  name  was  given,  and  yet 
government,  or  those  who  were  acting  in  the  name  of 
government,  proceeded  at  once  to  hang,  shoot,  or  torture 
the  unhappy  victims.* 

Baid  he,  1  but  mine  are  cut  to  pieces.  However,  I  '11  shake  a  toe,  and 
wish  you  good-bye.' " 

His  family  felt  his  treatment  bitterly.  His  brother,  Lord  Heniy 
Fitzgerald,  wrote  to  Lord  Camden  reproaching  him  with  his  cruelty  ; 
but  it  was  useless,  cruelty  was  the  order  of  the  day. — See  Memoirs  oj 
(Jruttun,  vol.  iv  p.  387. 

6  Mr  Duudas  forwarded  one  of  these  lists  from  a  man  "  who  would 


182 


LIST  OF  THOSE  SUSPECTED. 


The  excesses  committed  by  the  army  were  so  horrible  that 
we  cannot  defile  these  pages  with  them.    On  the  31st  of 


not  come  forward/'  to  Sir  Ralph  Abercrombie.  The  list  is  a  curiosity 
ami  shows  how  such  matters  were  arranged. 

Return  of  Suspected  Persons. 


Names. 

Stephen  Garry 

Waller  Mooney 
Michael  Lee  . 
James  Kelly  . 

Patrick  Burne. 

Hugh  Toole  . 
Patrick  Con! an 
John  Conlan  . 
Dominick  Conlan 
Maurice  Conlan 
Matthew  Conlan 
— Conlan,  his  son 
Thomas  Gannon 
Michael  Barnes 
Edward  Burne 
Christopher  Flood 
— Deering  .    .  « 

Edmund  Bell 


Residence. 

Kildare 
Eriarstown 
Kildare.  . 
Do.  .   .  . 

Ballysax  . 

Conlanstown 
Do.  .    .  . 
Do. 

Brownstown. 

Do. 

Ballysax. 
Do. 

Ballyfair  .  , 
Do.  ...  • 
Land  croft. 
Cut  Bush. 

Maddenstown 


Characters  of  the  Men. 

Treasurer  to  the  County  meetil  g, 
(  Representative  to  Surgeon  Cum- 
(  mings. 

Deeply  engaged,  and  a  Captain. 

A  Committee-man,  and  knows 
much. 

A  Captain,  much  with  Lord  Ed. 

Fitzgerald. 
Treasurer  Kildare  Meeting. 
A  supposed  assassin. 


Deep  in  the  secret. 
Used  to  be  much  with  Lord 
Edward  Fitzgerald. 


His  son  a  Captain,  and  now  in 
jail. 

.  \  HondtheHCur!  \  Has.  a  meetin"  ever^  Smid'^  * 
)   -l  (    his  home  at  10  o'clock. 


ra^h 


Thomas  Kelly    .     j  P(^^^laf  j  A  Captain,  and  swears  in  many. 


Patrick  Doyle 
-  Flood .    .  , 


Do. 
Do. 


A   Captain,  and   deeply  con- 
cerned. 


-Daly,  son  to  Ed-  )  -  (A  Captain  of  the  half-barony  of 

ward  Daly  .    .    .    Do  <  "  J 


Lawrance  Byrne .    .  Ballysax 


\  Kilcullen. 
{  A  blacksmith,  and  supposed  tc 
'  (     have  made  must  of  the  pikes. 


EXCESSES  OF  THE  MILITARY. 


18? 


August  1798.  Lord  Cornwallis  issued  general  orders  in  the 
vain  hope  of  improving  their  conduct;  he  might  as  well 
have  tiied  to  control  the  west  win  J. 

"  Bali.ixamoue,  August  o\st,  1798. 
"It  is  with  very  great  concern  that  Lord  Cornwall  is  finds  him- 
self obliged  to  call  on  the  General  Officers  and  the  Commanding 
Officers  of  regiments  in  particular,  and  in  general  on  the  officers 
oi  the  army,  to  assist  him  in  putting  a  stop  to  the  licentious 
conduct  of  the  troops,  and  in  saving  the  wretched  inhabitants 


It  will  be  seen  that  whole  families  were  marked  out  for  slaughter 
— that  in  many  cases  no  reason  whatever  is  given  for  the  accusation, 
anil  that  in  many  more  the  unhappy  men  were  only  "supposed"  to 
be  guilty.  Mr  Dundas  concludes  this  letter  by  saying: — "Everything 
goes  on  quietly,  hut  we  have  been  obliged  to  destroy  a  large  quantity 
of  whisky,  without  which  the  troops  would  have  got  drunk,  and  done 
much  mischief."  The  yeomen  and  military  were  drunk  half  their  time, 
and  those  wretches  were  the  men  to  whom  lull  liberty  was  granted  to 
kill  and  torture  any  one  on  mere  suspicion,  or  even  without  that  excuse. 

Sir  Ralph  Abercrombie  wa<  too  gallant  an  officer  to  encourage,  or  if 
he  could  help  it,  to  practise  such  atrocities,  but  no  one  had  control  over 
the  army,  whi  h  he  declared  "  was  formidable  to  every  one  but  the 
enemy."  Lord  Castlereagh  wrote  to  General  Lake,  who  succeeded  Sir 
Ralph  on  the  same  subject. 

"  Dcblin  Castle,  April  25*/?,  1798. 
"Sir, — It  having  been  represented  to  his  Excellency  the  Lord-Lieu- 
tenant, that  much  evil  may  arise  to  the  disci; »line  of  the  trooos  from 
their  being  permitted  fcr  any  length  of  time  to  live  at  free  quarter*, 
tn^t  the  loyal  and  well-affected  have  in  many  instances  suffered  in 
common  with  the  disaffected,  from  a  measure  which  does  not  admit  in 
its  execution  of  sufficient  discrimination  of  persons,  I  am  directed  by 
his  Excellency  to  request  that  you  will  advert  to  these  inconveniences, 
and  adopt  such  otlur  vigorous  and  effectual  measures  for  enforcing  the 
speedy  surrender  of  arms  as  in  your  discretion  you  shall  think  fit,  and 
which  shall  appear  to  you  not  liable  to  these  objections." — Memoirs  or 
Viscount  Castlereagh,  vol.  i.  p.  187. 


184 


A    VAIN  APPEAL. 


from  being  robbed,  and  in  the  most  shocking  manner  ill-treated, 
by  those  to  whom  they  had  a  right  to  look  for  safety  and  pro- 
tection. 

"Lord  Cornwallis  declares,  that  if  he  finds  that  the  soldiers  of 
any  regiment  have  had  opportunities  of  committing  these  excesses 
from  the  negligence  of  their  officers,  he  will  make  those  officers 
answerable  for  their  conduct ;  and  that  if  any  soldiers  are  caught 
either  in  the  act  of  robbery,  or  with  the  articles  of  plunder  in 
their  possession,  they  shall  be  instantly  tried,  and  immediate 
execution  shall  follow  their  conviction. 

"A  Provost-Marshal  will  be  appointed,  who  will,  with  his 
guard,  march  in  the  rear  of  the  army,  and  who  will  patrol  about 
the  villages  and  houses  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  camp." 

Lord  Cornwallis  has  been  accused  of  partiality  to  Ire- 
land because  he  would  not  countenance  cruelty,  though  he 
could  not  prevent  it.  We  therefore  give  other  testimony- 
Captain  Taylor  wrote  from  Ballinamore  on  the  31st  of 
August  1798  :— 

"We  halt  here  this  day  to  give  the  Queen's  and  29th  time  to 
join  us  :  they  have  made  a  most  expeditious  march  from  Wex- 
ford, and  will  be  at  Ballinasloe  this  day.  We  shall  proceed 
towards  Tuam  to-morrow,  and  they  will  march  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. As  far  as  we  can  learn  as  yet,  the  French  are  still  at 
Castlebar,  entrenching  themselves,  and  drilling  those  of  the  in- 
habitants who  have  joined.  Among  the  latter  I  fear  there  are 
some  of  the  Longford  and  Kilkenny  :  those  regiments  marched  to 
this  place  yesterday,  and  upon  our  arrival  were  immediately 
ordered  on  towards  Athlone.  Their  conduct,  and  that  of  the 
Carabineers  and  Frazers,  in  action  on  the  retreat  from  Castlebar 
and  Tuam,  and  the  depredations  they  committed  on  the  road, 
exceed,  I  am  told,  ail  description.  Indeed,  they  have,  I  believe, 
raised  a  spirit  of  liscontent  and  disaffection  which  did  no*  before 


LORD  CORNWALLIS. 


185 


exist  in  this  part  of  the  country.  Every  endeavour  lias  been  used 
to  prevent  plunder  in  our  corps,  but  it  really  is  impossible  to  stop 
it  in  some  of  the  regiments  of  militia  with  us,  particularly  the 
light  battalions." 

With  'be  intelligence  of  a  master  mind,  and  the  clear- 
ness of  an  unprejudiced  mind,  Lord  Cornwallis  studied  and 
fathomed  the  "  Irish  difficulty."  It  would  have  been  well 
for  both  countries  if  counsels  like  his  had  prevailed.  He  saw 
that  the  system  hitherto  pursued  was  bad;6  certainly  it  had 
been  thoroughly  tested,  and  as  certainly  it  had  entirely  failed. 

•  The  following  letter  deserves  consideration  even  at  the  present 
day  :— 

"  Marquis  Conucallis  to  the  Duke  of  Portland. 
[Secret  and  Confidential.] 

"  Dublin  Castle,  Sept.  16,  1708. 

"My  dear  Lord, — If  I  have  not  appeared  to  give  my  sentiments  to 
four  Grace  with  the  utmost  freedom,  and  to  speak  with  the  most  perfect 
openness  of  heart  on  the  subject  both  of  men  and  measures  in  this 
country,  I  most  earnestly  request  that  you  will  believe  that  such  ap- 
parent reserve  has  not  proceeded  from  a  want  of  the  most  affectionate 
regard  personally  to  yourself,  or  the  most  entire  confidence  in  your  up- 
rightness and  honour,  but  in  truth  from  my  not  being  able  to  give  you 
opinions  which  I  had  not  formed,  or  to  explain  things  which  I  was  not 
sure  that  I  understood. 

u  The  <piiek  succession  of  important  events  during  the  shurt  period  of 
my  Lieutenancy  has  frequently  diverted  my  attention  from  the  pursuit 
of  that  great  question — How  this  country  can  be  governed  and  pre- 
served, and  rendered  a  source  of  strength  and  power,  instead  of  remain- 
ing a  uscles-  and  almost  intolerable  burtheu  to  Great  Britain. 

"  Your  Giace  will  not  be  so  sanguine  as  to  expect  that  I  am  now  going 
to  tell  you  that  I  have  succeeded  in  making  this  discovery.  Sorry  am 
I  to  say,  that  I  have  made  no  further  progress  than  to  satisfy  niyseli 
that,  a  perseverance  in  the  system  which  has  hitherto  been  pursued,  can 


FAILURE  OF  ENGLISH  FOLIC Y. 


Protestant  ascendancy  had  been  allowed  full  swing,  yet 
Ireland  was  not  prosperous.  Trade  had  been  suppressed 
vigorously,  yet  England  was  not  benefited.  A  few  indi- 
viduals certainly  gained  by  the  public  loss,  and  these  in- 
dividuals contrived  to  impress  the  English  nation  with  a 

only  lead  us  from  bad  to  worse,  and  after  exhausting  the  resources  of 
Britain,  must  end  in  the  total  separation  of  the  two  countries. 

"  The  principal  personages  here  who  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of 
directing  the  counsels  of  the  Lords-Lieutenants  are  perfectly  well-in- 
tentioned, and  entirely  attached  and  devoted  to  the  British  connection ; 
but  they  are  blinded  by  their  passions  and  prejudices,  talk  of  nothing 
but  strong  measures,  and  arrogate  to  themselves  the  exclusive  know- 
ledge of  a  country,  of  which,  from  their  mode  of  governing  it,  they  have, 
in  my  opinion,  proved  themselves  totally  ignorant. 

"  To  these  men  I  have  shown  all  civility  and  kindness  in  my  power, 
and  have  done  for  them  all  ordinary  favours  which  they  have  asked,  but 
I  am  afraid  that  they  are  are  not  satisfied  with  me,  because  I  have  not 
thrown  myself  blindly  into  their  hands.  With  the  Chancellor,  who  can 
with  patience  listen  to  the  words  Papist  and  Moderation,  I  have  in- 
variably talked  on  all  public  points  which  have  occurred,  and  I  have 
Blown  no  marks  of  confidence  to  any  other  set  of  men,  and  have  par- 
ticularly given  no  countenance  whatever  to  those  who  opposed  the 
former  government.  I  have  at  all  times  received  the  greatest  assist- 
ance from  Lord  Castlereagh,  whose  prudence,  talents,  and  temper,  I  can- 
not sufficiently  commend. 

:'  No  man  will,  I  believe,  be  so  sanguine  as  to  think  that  any  mea- 
Mires  which  government  can  adopt  would  have  an  immediate  effect  on 
the  minds  of  the  people,  and  I  am  by  no  means  prepared  to  say  what 
those  should  be,  which  slowly  and  progressively  tend  to  that  most  de- 
sirable object. 

"  I  have  hitherto  been  chiefly  occupied  in  checking  the  growing  evil, 
but  so  perverse  and  ungovernable  are  the  tempers  here,  that  I  cannot 
Hatter  myself  that  I  have  been  very  successful. 

"  With  regard  to  future  plans,  I  can  only  say  that  some  mode  must  be 
adopted  to  soften  the  hatred  of  the  Catholics  to  our  government." 


THE  CROMWELL  POLICY. 


187 


terrible  fear  of  losing  Ireland,  if  they  were  not  permitted 
to  carry  out  their  selfish  policy.  Unfortunately,  the  great 
mass  of  Englishmen  were  utterly  ignorant  of  the  true 
state  of  Ireland,  and  had  a  traditional  belief,  not  easily 
shaken,  that  the  worst  which  could  be  said  of  her  was  pro- 
bably far  short  of  the  truth. 

There  were  men,  even  of  rank  and  station,  whom  nothing 
could  satisfy  except  a  universal  massacre  of  the  Irish,  who 
prayed  for  a  second  Cromwell  ;  men  who  were  too  com- 
pletely blinded  by  prejudice  to  be  capable  of  reasoning 
either  on  the  past  or  the  present, — men  who  could  not  see, 
or  who  would  not  see,  that  Cromwell's  policy  was  being 
enacted,  not  in  one  part  of  Ireland  alone,  but  from  the 
east  to  the  west,  wherever  Englisii  soldiers  could  be  sent. 
And  what  had  Cromwell's  policy  done — we  will  not  say  for 
Ireland,  because  Ireland  was  not  for  a  moment  considered 
by  such  persons, — but  what  had  his  policy  effected  in  Ire- 
land for  English  interests?  Had  it  decreased  the  popula- 
tion of  Ireland?  Fur  a  time,  certainly;  while  the  land  ran 
rivers  of  blood,  and  women  and  children  lay  writhing  in 
death-throes  of  agony  beneath  the  sword  of  men  who  took 
on  them  to  commit  the  deadliest  crimes  in  the  name  of 
the  God  of  mercy. 

Was  Ireland  more  contented,  more  easily  satisfied  with 
injustice?  Had  the  great  end  been  gained  of  making  her 
submit  in  silence  to  her  oppressor  ?  By  no  means.  All 
history  refutes  the  supposition.    What,  then,  did  Ciom- 


!88 


THE  CURSE  OF  CROMWELL. 


we  IPs  policy  do  for  English  interests  in  Ireland  ?  It 
simply  made  them  a  thousand  times  more  precarious  than 
ever,— it  simply  left  a  legacy  of  undying  hatred  to  those 
who  assisted  him  in  doing  his  evil  will.  "  The  curse  of 
Cromwell  on  you,"  is  to  the  present  day  the  bitterest 
imprecation  that  one  Irish  peasant  can  use  to  another, 
it nd  the  curse  of  that  man's  evil  deeds  will  never 
cease  to  lie  dark  and  heavy  between  the  English  and  Irish 
si i ( d*es.  A  century  of  honest,  manly,  justice  to  Ireland 
might,  indeed,  help  to  repair  it, — might  blot  out  the  darker 
shades  of  its  iniquity,  but  it  would  need  some  such  remedy. 
If  Irish  rebels  burned  and  pillaged  English  yeomen,  they 
had  learned  the  lesson  from  Cromwell.  He  massacred  the 
defenceless  from  the  pure  love  of  blood  and  cruelty ;  they 
did  but  strive  to  defend  the  defenceless  in  such  fashion  as 
they  could.7 

7  We  happen  to  know  that  the  Cromwell  theory  has  not  died  out  yet. 
It  has,  at  least,  the  merit  of  simplicity,  but  it  would  be  a  little  difficult  ol 
execution  in  this  nineteenth  century,  when  there  would  be  some  millions 
of  Irish  in  America, 

"To  know  the  reason  why." 

On  the  27th  July  1798,  Lord  Clifdon  wrote  from  Dublin  to  the 

Speaker  of  the  English  House  of  Commons  : — 

"  There  certainly  is  a  great  want  of  discipline,  and  the  strongest  spirit 
of  plunder,  in  the  troops.  The  north  is  quiet,  and  will,  from  all  I  hear, 
remain  so.  They  don't  like  to  have  their  throats  cut  by  the  southern 
Catholics.  Some  good  priests  there  are,  and  many  loyal  Catholics,  but 
the  mass  of  them  are  rebels,  and  the  priests  who  are  infected  with  this 
villany  excite  them  to  massacre  the  Protestants  as  a  means,  together 
with  the  hope  of  plunder,  to  drive  them  on  in  the  rebellion.    It  is  a 


THE   UNHAPPY  PEASANTRY. 


189 


H">w  defenceless  the  unhappy  Irish  peasantry  were  at 
this  period,  is  evident  from  a  letter  of  the  Marquis  of 
Cornwallis  to  the  Duke  of  Portland,  dated  Dublin  Castle, 
June  4JS,  1798,  in  which  he  says: — 

"The  accounts  that  you  see  of  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  de 
itroyed  in  every  action,  are,  I  conclude,  greatly  exaggerated  ;  from 
my  own  knowledge  of  military  affairs,  I  am  sure  that  a  very 
small  proportion  of  them  only  could  be  killed  in  battle;  and  I  am 
much  afraid  that  any  man  in  a  brown  coat,  who  is  found  within 
several  miles  of  the  field  of  action,  is  butchered  without  discrimi- 
nation. 

u  It  shall  be  one  of  my  first  objects  to  soften  the  ferocity  of 
our  troops,  which  I  am  afraid,  in  the  Irish  corps  at  least,  is  not 
confined  to  the  private  soldiers. 

"I  shall  use  my  utmost  exertions  to  suppress  the  folly  which 
has  been  too  prevalent  in  this  quarter,  of  substituting  the  word 
Catholicism  instead  of  Jacobinism,  as  the  foundation  of  the  present 
rebellion." 

On  the  1st  of  July  he  wrote — 

u  The  violence  of  our  friends,  and  their  folly  in  endeavouring 


miserable  thing  to  say,  but,  from  all  I  have  seen  and  know,  I  am  per- 
fectly convinced  that  while  everything  round  them  has  improved,  the 
minds  and  feelings  of  the  lower  class  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  are 
exactly  what  they  were  in  1641.  This  is  possible,  and  what  I  could 
not  have  believed  four  months  ago,  nor  at  all,  had  I  not  seen  the  proof 
with  my  own  eyes.  They  are,  however,  to  be  brought  to  reason,  as 
Cromwell  brought  them  then,  and  by  no  other  means,  as  the  event 
will  prove.  In  my  opinion,  a  union  would  be  the  salvation  of  both 
islands." — Diary  of  Lord  Colchester,  vol.  i.  p.  160. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the  Irish  peasantry  could  have  im- 
proved, when  they  were  neither  allowed  education  nor  commerce. 


190 


VIOLENCE—CIVIL  AND  MILITARY. 


to  make  it  a  religious  war,  added  to  the  ferocity  of  our  troopa 
who  delight  in  murder,  most  powerfully  counteract  all  plans  of 

conciliation. 

•        •••••  • 

"  The  Irish  militia  are  totally  without  discipline,  contemptible 
before  the  enemy  when  any  serious  resistance  is  made  to  them, 
bul  ferocious  and  cruel  in  the  extreme  when  any  poor  wretches, 
either  with  or  without  arms,  come  within  their  power;  in  short, 
murder  appears  to  be  their  favourite  pastime. 

';  The  principal  persons  of  this  country,  and  the  members  of 
both  Houses  of  Parliament,  are,  in  general,  averse  to  all  acts  of 
clemenc}^,  and  although  they  do  not  express,  and  perhaps  are  too 
much  heated  to  see  the  ultimate  effects  which  their  violence  must 
produce,  would  pursue  measures  that  wuld  only  terminate  in  the 
extirpation  of  the  greater  number  of  the  inhabitants,  and  in  the 
utter  destruction  of  the  country.  The  words  Papists  and  Priests 
are  for  ever  in  their  mouths,  and  by  their  unaccountable  policy 
they  would  drive  four-fifths  of  the  community  into  irreconcilable 
rebellion  ;  and  in  their  warmth  they  lose  sight  of  the  real  cause 
of  the  present  mischief,  of  that  deep-laid  conspiracy  to  revolu- 
tionise Ireland  on  the  principles  of  France,  which  was  originally 
formed,  and  by  wonderful  assiduity  brought  nearly  to  maturity, 
by  men  who  had  no  thought  of  religion  but  to  destroy  it,  and  who 
knew  how  to  turn  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  different 
sects  to  the  advancement  of  their  horrible  plot  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  that  most  dreadful  of  all  evils,  a  Jacobin  revolution." 

We  have  given  sufficient  English  authority  to  show  tbe 
state  of  Ireland  at  the  period  of  0' Council's  entrance  into 
public  life.  Many  Irish  authorities  might  have  been  quoted, 
but  we  are  so  fully  aware  of  English  misconception  of  the 
whole  subject,  and  of  the  prejudice  which  exists  against  the 


THE  SHACKLETOXS. 


191 


accents  even  of  Irish  Protestants,  who  have  given  truthful 
narrative?  of  the  times,  that  we  do  not  introduce  their 
authority  here.  But  there  is  one  authority  little  known, 
and  seldom,  as  far  as  we  are  aware,  quoted,  to  which  few 
can  object,  as  likely  to  he  prejudiced  unduly  on  either 
gide — it  is  that  of  the  gentle  and  gifted  Mary  Leadbetter, 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

Mr  Shackleton,  Mrs  Leadbetter's  father,  kept  a  famous 
school  at  Ballitore,  in  the  county  Kildare.  The  village 
lies  on  the  high  road  to  Cork,  about  twenty  miles  from 
Dublin.  It  was  almost  a  Quaker  settlement,  hut  many 
Irish  gentlemen  were  glad  to  confide  the  education  of  their 
?ons  to  the  conscientious  and  able  schoolmaster.  Mrs 
Leadhetter  wrote,  amongst  other  works,  "The  Annals  of 
Ballitore,"  in  which  she  gives  a  charming  description  of 
ber  home.  Edmund  Burke  was  educated  there,  and  kept 
lip  a  life-long  correspondence  with  the  Shackletons, 
honourable  alike  to  master  and  pupil.  His  correspondence 
forms  a  considerable  and  most  interesting  portion  of  the 
volume.  All  was  happy  in  that  happy  home  till  t^e  dread 
hour  when  the  "  Irish  rising  "  was  put  down  with  merciless 
cruelty.  With  a  few  extracts  from  Mrs  Leadbetter's  narra- 
tive, we  conclude  this  painful  subject. 

The  Shackleton  family  were  treated  by  both  sides  with 
consideration,  though  they  had  a  "  green  8  cloth"  on  their 


8  The  writer  knew  a  lady,  since  dead,  who  was  unhappy  enough  t<; 
have  seen  a  young  man  taken  up,  and  hanged  without  any  trial,  oi 


192 


MRS  LEADBETTER'S  TESTIMONY. 


table  which  they  did  not  remove.  We  suspect  the  sympathies 

of  (lie  gentle  Friends  were  rather  with  the  people;  but  how 

could  it  be  otherwise,  when  the  people  were  always  eager  to 

serve  them  in  any  way?  Their  house  was  visited  frequently 

both  by  the  insurgents  and  the  military.     The  following 

are  some  of  the  many  scenes  of  horror  which  Mrs  Lead* 

better  records : — 

"  Every  one  seemed  to  think  that  safety  and  security  were  to  be 
found  in  my  brother's  house.  Thither  the  insurgents  brought 
their  prisoners,  and  thither  also  their  own  wounded  comrades.  It 
was  an  awful  sight  to  behold  in  that  large  parlour  such  a  mingled 
assembly  of  throbbing,  anxious  hearts  ;  my  brother's  own  family, 
silent  tears  rolling  down  their  faces,  the  wives  of  the  loyal  officers, 
the  wives  of  the  soldiers,  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  insurgents, 
the  numerous  guests,  the  prisoners,  the  trembling  women — all 
dreading  to  see  the  door  open,  lest  some  new  distress,  some  fresh 
announcement  of  horrors,  should  enter.  It  was  awful ;  but  every 
scene  was  now  awful,  and  we  knew  not  what  a  day  might  bring 
forth. 

•  •«••••  • 

"  Young  girls  dressed  in  white,  with  green  ribbons,  and  carrying 
pikes,  accompanied  the  insurgents.  They  had  patrols  and  a 
countersign,  but  it  was  long  before  they  could  decide  upon  the 
password. 

even  attempt  at  a  trial,  simply  because  he  wore  a  necktie  which  was 
partly  green.  One  of  the  favourite  ballads  of  the  period,  and  which 
indeed  is  still  sung  by  the  peasants,  alludes  to  this  as  a  common 
practice.  "  The  Wearing  of  the  Green"  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
soul-stirring  of  all  the  Irish  rebel-songs— 

"  Oh  !  such  a  wretched  country 
As  this  was  never  seen, 
For  they're  hanging  men  and  women, 
For  the  wearing  of  the  green." 


MRS  LEADBETTEWS  TESTIMONY. 


193 


■  At  length  they  fixed  upon  the  word  t:  scourges."  Sentinels 
were  placed  in  various  parts  of  the  village.  One  day  as  I  went 
to  my  brothers,  a  sentinel  called  to  a  man  who  walked  with  me 
not  to  advance  on  pain  of  being  shot.  The  sentinel  was  my 
former  friend  '*the  Canny."  I  approached  him,  and  asked,  would 
he  would  shoot  me  if  I  proceeded  ?  "  Shoot  you  ! "  exclaimed 
he,  taking  my  hand  and  kissing  it,  adding  a  eulogium  on  the 
Quakers. 

'  I  told  him  it  would  be  well  if  they  were  all  of  our  way  of 
thinking,  for  then  there  would  be  no  such  work  as  the  present. 
1  thought  I  could  comprehend  11  the  Cannv's  n  incoherent  answer 
"Ay  !   but  you  know  our  Saviour  —  the  scourges,  oh!  the 
scourges ! " 

•  ••••••• 

Then  raising  himself  in  his  stirrups,  he  revoked  the  orders  given  to 
his  men  to  fire  upon  every  man  in  coloured  clothes.  Oh,  rash  and 
cruel  orders,  which  exposed  to  such  danger  lives  of  such  value, 
which  if  thus  sacrificed  no  regrets  could  have  restored !  Nothing 
can  justify  such  commands. 

•  •  •••••• 

"  Soldiers  carne  in  for  milk  ;  some  of  their  countenances  were 
pale  with  anger,  and  they  grinned  at  me,  calling  me  names  which  I 
had  never  heard  before.  They  said  I  had  poisoned  the  milk  which 
I  gave  them,  and  desired  me  to  drink  some,  which  I  did  with  much 
indignation.  Others  were  civil,  and  one  inquired  if  we  had  had 
any  United  Irishmen  in  the  house.  I  told  them  we  had.  In  that 
fearful  tune  the  least  equivocation,  the  least  deception,  appeared 
to  me  to  be  fraught  with  danger.  The  soldier  continued  his 
inquiry — '  Had  they  plundered  us  V  4  No,  except  of  eating  and 
drinking.'  '  Oh,  free  quarters,'  he  replied,  smiled  and  went  away. 
A  fine  looking  man,  a  soldier,  came  in  in  an  extravagant  passion  ; 
neither  his  rage  nor  my  terror  could  prevent  me  from  observing 
that  this  man  was  strikingly  handsome  ;  he  asked  me  the  same 
questions  in  the  same  terms,  and  I  made  the  same  answer.  He 

N 


10  1  MRS  I EA  I)  BET  TEE  S  TESTIMONY. 


cursed  me  with  great  bitterness,  and  raising  his  musket,  presented 
it  to  my  breast.  I  desired  him  not  to  shoot  me.  It  seemed  as 
if  lie  had  the  will  but  not  the  power  to  do  so.  He  turned  from 
me,  dashed  pans  and  jugs  off  the  kitchen  table  with  his  musket, 
and  shattered  the  kitchen  window.  Terrified  almost  out  of  my 
wits,  I  pan  out  of  the  house,  followed  by  several  women  almost  as 
much  frightened  as  myself.  When  I  fled  my  fears  gained  strength, 
and  I  believed  my  enemy  was  pursuing ;  I  thought  of  throwing 
myself  into  the  river  at  the  foot  of  the  garden,  thinking  the 
bullet  could  not  hurt  me  in  the  water.  One  of  our  servants  ran 
into  the  street  to  call  for  help.  William  Richardson  and  Charles 
Coote,  who  kindly  sat  on  oheir  horses  outside  our  windows,  came 
in  and  turned  the  ruffian  out  of  the  house.  That  danger  passed, 
I  beheld  from  the  back  window  of  our  parlour  the  dark- red  flames 
of  Gavin's  house,  and  others,  rising  above  the  green  of  the  trees. 
At  the  same  time,  a  fat  tobacconist  from  Carlo  w  lolled  upon  one  of 
our  chairs,  and  talked  boastingly  of  the  exploits  performed  by  the 
military  whom  he  had  accompanied  ;  how  they  had  shot  several, 
adding,  '  We  burned  one  fellow  in  a  barrel.'  I  never  in  my  iifn 
felt  disgusted  so  strongly  ;  it  even  overpowered  the  horror  due  to 
the  deed  which  had  been  actually  committed." 


Chapter  |i% 


+  HE  BAIL  AXD  POLITICS. 
1 798-1801. 

TTkgr  circuit — AT  the  bar— jerry  kei.ler — bar  stories— promise  of  suo 

C£gS — CLEAR    IDEAS    OF    FOX  —  THE   IRISH    PARLIAMENT  —  THE    UNION — 

POLICY  OF  PITT — BRIBERY — ^UE  PRIESTS — CONCUSSION  IN  VOTING  LETTER 

OF  MR  LUKE  FOX — THE  BAR  AND  THE  UNION — "  THE  ANTI-UNION  " — FIR8T 
SPEECH — ANTI-UNION  RESOLUTIONS — PERSONAL  APPEARANCE  —  QRATTAU 
AMD  PITT — PERSONAL  DAXOUU 


y^f^CONNELL  went  hia  first  circuit 
in  1 798.    He  had  only  just  re- 
covered from  the  fever  already 
mentioned,  which  was  so  nearly 
fatal,  but  his  tigorons  consti- 
tution   enabled  him  t<>  bear 
both  then  and  in  later  life  what  might  have 
proved   beyond   the  strength    of  others  less 
favoured  in  that  way.     We  ffive  here  his  own 
account  of  this  illness  : — 

"It  was  occasioned,''  said  he,  "by  sleeping  in  wet 
clothes.  I  had  dried  them  upon  me  at  a  peasant's 
fire,  and  drank  three  glasses  of  whisky,  after  which 
I  fell  asleep.  The  next  day  I  hunted,  was  soon 
weary,  and  fell  asleep  in  a  ditcli  under  sunshine. 
I  became  much  worse ;  I  spent  a  fortnight  in  great 


198 


THE  INTELLECT  UNTOUCHED. 


discomfort,  wandering  about  and  unable  to  eat.    At  last,  when  I 
(•(mid  no  longer  battle  it  out,  I  gave  up  and  went  to  bed.  Old 
Doctor  Moriarty  was  sent  for ;  lie  pronounced  me  in  a  high  fever, 
was  in  such  pain  that  I  wished  to  die.    In  my  ravings  I  fancied 
at  1  was  in  the  middle  of  a  wood,  and  that  the  branches  Were 
n  fire  around  me.    I  felt  my  backbone  stiffening  for  death,  and 
I  positively  declare  that  I  think  what  saved  me  was  the  effort  I 
made  to  rise  up,  and  show  my  father,  who  was  at  my  bedside, 
that  1  knew  him.    I  verily  believe  that  effort  of  nature  aveited 
death.    During  my  illness  I  used  to  quote  from  the  tragedy  of 
Douglas  these  lines — 

'Unknown  I  die  ;  no  tongue  shall  speak  of  me  ; 
Some  noble  spirits,  judging  by  themselves, 
May  yet  conjecture  what  I  might  have  proved  ; 
And  think  life  only  wanting  to  my  fame.' 

I  used  to  quote  those  lines  under  the  full  belief  that  my  illness 
would  end  fatally.  Indeed,  long  before  that  period — when  I  was 
Beven  years  old — yes,  indeed,  as  long  as  ver  I  can  recollect.  I 
always  felt  a  presentiment  that  I  should  write  my  name  on  the 
page  of  history.  I  hated  Saxon  domination.  I  detested  the 
tyrants  of  Ireland.  During  the  latter  part  of  my  illness,  Doctor 
Moriarty  told  me  that  Buonaparte  had  got  his  whole  army  to 
Alexandria,  across  the  desert.  '  That  is  impossible,'  said  I,  '  he 
cannot  have  done  so  ;  they  would  have  starved.1  '  Oh,  no,'  re- 
plied the  doctor,  'they  had  a  quantity  of  portable  soup  with, 
them,  sufficient  to  feed  the  whole  army  for  four  days.'  '  Ay,' 
joined  I,  'but  had  they  portable  water?  For  their  portable 
jp  Avould  have  been  of  little  use  if  they  had  not  water  to  dis- 
solve it  in.'  My  father  looked  at  the  attendants  with  an  air  of 
hope.  Doctor  Moriarty  said  to  my  mother,  'His  intellect,  at  any 
rate,  is  untouched.' " 


This  illness  occurred  in  August  1798,  and  immediately 
after  his  recovery  he  went  on  circuit.    Of  this  event  ho 


LEA  YING  HOME. 


199 


has  also  left  a  record,  or  rather  the  record  as  given  by  him- 
self has  been  preserved  by  his  faithful  friend  Mr  Daunt. 

Travelling  then  in  Kerry,9  or  indeed  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  was  by  no  means  the  easy  and  rapid  affair  it  is 
uuw.  O'Connell  left  home  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning 
on  horseback,  accompanied  by  his  brother  John,  who  was 
bound  for  the  more  congenial  occupation  of  hunting. 
O'Connell  was  passionately  fond  of  sport,  and  tenderly 
attached  to  his  whole  family,  so  that  the  parting  had  a 
double  pang.  We  give  the  remainder  of  the  narrative  in 
0' Council's  own  words  : — 

"I  looked  after  him.  from  time  to  time,  until  he  was  out  of 
tight,  and  then  I  cheered  up  my  spirits  as  well  as  1  could;  I  had 
left  home  at  such  an  early  hour,  that  I  was  in  Tralee  at  half-past 


•  Until  the  year  1825,  when  the  Limerick  mail-coach  was  established, 
put-chaises,  sometimes  of  the  rudest  construction,  were  the  only  meana 
of  conveyance.  Two  well-known  Tralee  characters,  Davy  Dog  and  Ja"\k 
Hackney,  kept  these  coaches,  and  with  rope  shrouds  rigged  under  tne 
bodies  of  them  to  assiU  or  preserve  the  springs.  They  took  six  or  seven 
hours  going  from  Tralee  to  Listowel — a  distance  of  eighteen  miles — 
stopped  there  that  night,  the  next  day  journeying  as  far  as  Newbridge, 
where  another  night  was  spent,  and  the  third  day  they  reached  Lime- 
rick. The  journey  between  Tralee  and  Limerick  is  performed  at  present 
by  rail  in  about  live  hours. 

The  first  four-horse  mail  was  driven  into  Kerry  from  Cork  on  the 
11th  of  August  1810,  by  old  Mich  Daly,  a  famous  Jehu,  whose  chirrup 
was  the  delight  of  his  horses,  and  who  made  the  noble  and  creditable 
boast  that  "  a  ha'porth  of  whipcord  "  would  last  a  twelvemonth.  He 
had  a  theory,  rather  old-fashioned,  we  must  fear,  that  "  beating  horses 
was  not  driving  them."  He  proved  his  theory  by  practice,  and  we 
Bincerely  wish  we  had  a  few  more  imitators.  Butgcod  driving  requires 
some  intellectual  effort  ;  and  brute  force,  which  the  prosecutions  of  the 


"YOU'LL  DO,   YOUNG  GENTLEMAN." 


twelve.  I  got  my  horse  fed,  and,  thinking  it  was  as  well  to  push 
on  1  remounted  him,  and  took  the  road  to  Tarbert  by  Listowell. 
A  few  miles  further  on,  a  shower  of  rain  drove  me  under  a  bridge 
for  shelter.  While  1  stayed  there,  the  rain  sent  Robert  Hickson 
also  under  the  bridge.  He  saluted  me,  and  asked  me  where  I 
was  going?  I  answered,  'To  Tarbert.'— '  Why  so  late?'  said 
Hickson.  *  I  am  not  late,'  said  I.  '  I  have  been  up  since  four 
o'clock  this  morning.' — 'Why,  where  do  you  come  from?' — 'From 
Carhen.'  Hickson  looked  astonished,  for  the  distance  was  near 
fifty  Irish  miles.  But  he  expressed  his  warm  approval  of  my 
activity.  '  Youll  do,  young  gentleman,'  said  he  ;  ' I  see  you'll  do.* 
I  then  rode  on,  and  got  to  Tarbert  about  five  in  the  afternoon — 
full  sixty  miles  Irish  from  Carhen.  There  wasn't  one  book  to  be 
had  at  the  inn.  I  had  no  acquaintance  in  the  town ;  and  I 
felt  my  spirits  low  enough  at  the  prospect  of  a  long,  stupid  even- 
ing.   But  I  was  relieved  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  Ralph 


Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals  shows  to  be  very 
much  in  vogue  at  the  other  side  of  the  Channel,  is  within  the  reach  of 
every  man,  however  degraded,  who  has  a  strong  arm. 

The  judges  in  the  eighteenth  century  at  least,  travelled  direct  from 
Limerick  to  Tralee,  and  were  particular  about  the  state  of  the  roads, 
for  they  fined  the  county  Kerry  one  hundred  pounds  for  not  keeping  the 
"  great  circuit  road  "  in  proper  repair. 

The  first  hotel  of  any  importance  in  Tralee  was  set  up  by  Dick 
Thornton,  and  was  styled  the  Denny  Arms.  Dick,  as  usual  in  such 
cases,  was  a  retired  servant.  He  had  been  coachman  to  Sir  Barry" 
Denny,  but  having  become  incapacitated  for  that  position  by  a  fall  from 
his  seat  of  authority,  the  coach-box — he  was  set  up  as  hotel-keeper,  and 
provided  with  a  wooden  leg. 

The  Blennerhassets,  too,  had  their  hotel,  conducted  by  Sam  Benner, 
who  was  also  a  post-master,  and  is  said  to  have  advanced  the  art  of 
locomotion  by  his  strenuous  efforts  to  keep  up  and  improve  his  busi- 
ness. Paddy  Devine  represented  the  Crosbie  interest.  His  hotel,  as 
in  duty  bound,  was  called  the  Crosbie  Arms.  He  is  reported  to  have 
been  an  extensive  farmer,  and,  moreover,  kept  race-korsea. 


O'COy SELL'S  FORTE. 


201 


Marshall,  an  i>ld  friend  of  mine,  who  came  to  the,  inn  to  dress  for 
a  ball  that  took  place  in  Tarbert  that  night.  He  asked  me  to 
accompany  him  to  the  hall.  '  Why,'  said  I,  '  I  have  ridden  sixty 
miles.'  '  Oh,  you  don't  seem  in  the  least  tired,'  said  he,  '  so  come 
along.'  Accordingly  I  went,  and  sat  up  until  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  dancing." 

A  few  hours'  sleep  was  sufficient  to  refresh  the  hardy 
youth,  and  he  rode  off  to  the  Limerick  assizes  to  make 
his  iirst  public  appearance  as  a  barrister.  How  little  he 
could  have  anticipated,  as  he  rode  quietly  and  unnoticed 
into  the  grand  old  city  of  the  Violated  Treaty,1  and  glanced 
at  the  stone  which  commemorates  Irish  bravery  and 
English  bad  faith,  how  triumphantly  he  should  one  day 
be  received  there  himself! 

He  at  once  distinguished  himself  as  a  cross-examiner, 
which  was  undoubtedly  his  great  forte  at  the  bar.  This 
department  of  the  legal  profession  requires  a  tact  and 
talent  peculiar  to  itself,  and  which  is  often  wanting  in 
those  who  were  gifted  in  other  ways  with  the  highest 
forensic  ability.  Woe  to  the  unhappy  man  who  gets  into 
the  witness  box  with  a  secret ;  he  might  make  a  thousand 
resolutions  to  keep  it  to  himself, — he  might  succeed  with 
eome  cross-examiners,  but  certainly  not  when  OConnel] 
was  counsel. 

He  laughed,  he  cajoled,  he  rarely  threatened,  be  began  a 

1  The  particulars  of  the  Violated  Treaty  are  too  well-known  to  need 
more  than  a  passing  allusion.  It  is  certainly  one  of  the  worst  breaches 
of  faith  on  record. 


202 


EXAMINING  A  WITNESS. 


cheerful  conversation  in  most  confidential  terms.  The  half- 
pleased,  half-bewildered  witness  "  did  not  know  where  he 
was."  This  agreeable  gentleman  surely  could  have  no 
ulterior  designs  in  all  this.  Precisely  when  the  unhappy 
man  was  thoroughly  off  his  guard,  out  came  the  question. 
It  was  generally  answered  with  a  second's  hesitation,  and 
O'Connell  sat  down  triumphant. 

He  had  a  singular  facility,  a  gift  which  cannot  be  ac- 
quired by  any  amount  of  practice,  of  seizing  the  salient 
points  of  a  subject  at  one  glance.  He  not  only  asked  well, 
but  he  knew  exactly  what  to  ask.  In  ten  minutes  he 
would  extract  as  much  information  from  a  witness,  as  a 
more  practised  but  less  gifted  barrister  would  attain  in  half 
an  hour. 

At  the  Tralee  assizes  he  held  a  brief  from  Jerry  Keller, 
a  noted  attorne}r.  O'Connell  had  to  examine  a  witness 
about  whose  sobriety  there  was  some  question.  The  wit- 
ness would  not  convict  himself.  He  declared  he  had  his 
"  share  of  a  pint  of  whisky."  His  sobriety  depended  on 
the  amount  of  the  "  share."  O'Connell  asked  him  by 
virtue  of  his  oath,  was  not  his  share  all  but  the  pewter  ;  and 
amid  a  roar  of  laughter  the  unhappy  victim  of  forensic 
dexterity  was  obliged  to  admit  that  it  was.  O'Connell,  in 
relating  the  story  afterwards,  said,  "  The  oddity  of  my 
mode  of  putting  the  question  was  very  successful,  and 
created  a  general  and  hearty  laugh.  Jerry  Keller  repeated 
the  encouragement  Robert  Hickson  had  already  bestowed 


■  A    CLEVER  ROGUE?  20:? 


upon  my  activity,  in  the  very  same  words,  'You'll  doy 
)'o ung  gentleman  !  you'll  do .r  M 

Mr  Hickson'8  history  was  a  curious  exemplification  01 
the  state  of  the  times.  He  turned  Protestant  to  save  his 
property,  and  was  twice  High  Sheriff  of  Kerry.  When  the 
penal  code  was  relaxed,  he  went  back  to  his  old  faith  to 
save  his  conscience,  having,  however,  first  made  very  sure 
that  this  proceeding  would  not  injure  his  temporal  pro- 
sperity. 

O'Connell  used  to  tell  some  capital  bar  stories. 

"The  cleverest  rogue  in  the  profession  that  ever  I  heard  of,"  he 
said,  on  one  occasion,  "  was  one  Checkley,  familiarly  known  by 
the  name  of  1  Checkley-be-d — d.'  Checkley  was  agent  once  at 
the  Cork  assizes  for  a  fellow  accused  of  burglary  and  aggravated 
assault  committed  at  Ban  try.  The  noted  Jerry  Keller  was  coun- 
sel for  the  prisoner,  against  whom  the  charge  was  made  out  by 
the  clearest  circumstantial  evidence;  so  clearly,  that  it  seemed 
quite  impossible  to  doubt  his  guilt.  When  the  case  for  the  pro- 
secution closed,  the  judge  asked  if  there  were  any  witnesses  for 
the*  defence.  'Yes,  my  lord,'  said  Jerry  Keller,  'I  have  three 
briefed  to  me.'  1  Call  them/  said  the  judge.  Checkley  immedi- 
ately bustled  out  of  court,  and  returned  at  once,  leading  in  a  very 
respectable-looking,  farmer-like  man,  with  a  blue  coat  and  gdt 
buttons  scratch  wig,  corduroy  tights,  and  gaiters.  'This  is  a 
witness  to  character,  my  lord,'  said  Checkley.  Jerry  Keller  (the 
counsel)  forthwith  began  to  examine  the  witness.  After  asking 
him  his  name  and  residence,  4  You  know  the  prisoner  in  the  dock  ?  ' 
said  Keller.  'Yes,  your  honour,  ever  since  he  was  a  gorsoon  V 
'And  what  is  his  general  character?'  said  Keller.  *  Ogh,  the 
devil  a  worse  ! '  '  Why,  what  sort  of  a  witness  is  this  yon  've 
brought?'  cried  Keller,  passionately,  flinging  down  his  brief,  and 


£04 


PROVING  Ai\  ALIBI. 


looking  furiously  at  Checkley;  1  he  has  ruined  us-F  'He  may 
prove  an  alibi,  however,'  returned  Checkley;  'examine  him  to 
alibi  as  instructed  in  your  brief.'  Keller  accordingly  resumed  his 
examination.  '  Where  was  the  prisoner  on  the  10th  instant  ?' 
mid  be.  'He  was  near  Castlemartyr,'  answered  the  witness. 
'Are  you  sure  of  that?'  'Quite  sure,  counsellor!'  '  How  do 
you  know  with  such  certainty?'  'Because  upon  that  very  night 
1  was  returning  from  the  fair,  and  when  I  got  near  my  own  house, 
1  saw  the  prisoner  a  little  way  on  before  me — I'd  swear  to  him 
anywhere.  He  was  dodging  about,  and  I  knew  it  could  be  for 
no  good  end.  So  I  slipped  into  the  field,  and  turned  off  my  horse 
to  grass  ;  and  while  I  was  watching  the  lad  from  behind  the 
ditch,  I  saw  him  pop  across  the  wall  into  my  garden  and  steal  a 
lot  of  parsnips  and  carrots ;  and,  what  I  thought  a  great  dale 
worse  of,  he  stole  a  bran-new  English  spade  I  had  got  from  my 
landlord,  Lord  Shannon.  So,  faix !  I  cut  away  after  him,  but  aa 
I  was  tired  from  the  day's  labour,  and  he  being  fresh  and  nimble, 
I  wasn't  able  to  ketch  him.  But  next  day  my  spade  was  seen 
surely  in  his  house,  and  that 's  the  same  rogue  in  the  dock  !  ] 
wish  I  had  a  hoult  of  him.'  '  It  is  quite  evident,'  said  the  judge, 
that  we  must  acquit  the  prisoner ;  the  witness  has  clearly  estab- 
lished an  alibi  for  him  ;  Castlemartyr  is  nearly  sixty  miles  from 
gantry  •  and  he  certainly  is  anything  but  a  partisan  of  his.  Pray, 
friend,'  addressing  the  witness,  '  will  you  swear  informations 
against  the  prisoner  for  his  robbery  of  your  property  ? '  '  Troth 
i  will,  my  lord !  with  all  the  pleasure  in  life,  if  your  lordshifi 
thinks  I  can  get  any  satisfaction  out  of  him.  I 'm  tould  I  can  f;>r 
the  spade,  but  not  for  the  carrots  and  parsnips.'  '  Go  to  the 
Crown  Office  and  swear  informations,'  said  the  judge. 

"  The  prisoner  was  of  course  discharged,  the  alibi  having  clearly 
been  established  ;  in  an  hour  s  time  some  inquiry  was  made  as  to 
whether  Checkley  s  rural  witness  had  sworn  informations  in  the 
Crown  Office.  That  gentleman  was  not  to  be  heard  of:  the 
prisoner  also  had  vanished  immediately  on  being  discharged— 
and  of  course  resumed  his  mal -practices  forthwith.     It  needs 


"TAKE  AWAY  THAT  OWL. 


hardly  he  told,  that  Lord  Shannon's  soi-disant  tenant  dealt  a  little 
in  fiction,  and  that  the  whole  story  of  his  farm  from  that  nobleman, 
and  of  the  prisoner's  thefts  of  the  spade  and  the  vegetables,  was  a 
pleasant  device  of  Mr  Checkley's.  I  told  this  story,"  continued 
O'Connell,  "  to  a  coterie  of  English  barristers  with  whom  I  dined; 
and  it  was  most  diverting  to  witness  their  astonishment  at  Mr 
Checkley's  unprincipled  ingenuity.  Stephen  Rice,  the  assistant 
barrister,  had  so  high  an  admiration  of  this  clever  rogue,  that  he 
declared  he  would  readily  walk  fifty  miles  to  see  Checkley  ! " 

The  Tralee  court-house  was  the  scene  of  some  curious 
episodes.    One  of  these  was  thus  related  by  O'Connell  : — 

"O'Grady  was  on  one  occasion  annoyed  at  the  disorderly  noise, 
in  the  court-house  at  Tralee.  He  bore  it  quietly  for  some  time, 
expecting  that  Denny  (the  High  Sheriff)  would  interfere  to  restore 
order.  Finding,  however,  that  Denny,  who  was  reading  in  his 
box,  took  no  notice  of  the  riot,  0  Grady  rose  from  the  bench,  and 
called  out  to  the  studious  High  Sheriff,  'Mr  Denny,  I  just  got  up 
to  hint  that  I  'm  afraid  the  noise  in  the  court  will  prevent  you 
from  reading  your  novel  in  quiet.' 

u  After  O'Grady  had  retired  from  the  bench,  some  person  placed 
a  large  stuffed  owl  on  the  sofa  beside  him.  The  bird  was  of  enor 
mous  size,  and  had  been  brought  as  a  great  curiosity  from  the 
tropics.  O'Grady  looked  at  the  owl  for  a  moment,  and  then  said 
with  a  gesture  of  peevish  impatience,  1  Take  away  that  owl  !  take 
away  that  owl  !  If  you  don't,  I  shall  fancy  I  am  seated  again  oij 
the  Exchequer  Bench  beside  Baron  Foster  ! 9 

"  Those  who  have  seen  Baron  Foster  on  the  bench,  can  best 
appreciate  the  felicitous  resemblance  traced  by  his  venerable 
brother  judge  between  his  lordship  and  an  old  stuffed  owl.' 

"Judge  O'Grady  was  by  no  means  deficient  in  wit.  Mr  PurcoH 
O'Gorman,  previously  to  emancipation,  was  one  of  the  most  violent 
.  pot  and  out  partisans  of  the  Catholic  party.  He  often  declared 
that  1  did  not  go  far  enough.    We  were  once  standing  together  hi 


TRIED  FOR  MELODIOUS  PRACTICES. 


the  inn  at  Ennis,  and  I  took  up  a  prayer-book  which  lay  in  the 
w  indow-,  and  said,  kissing  it,  '  By  virtue  of  this  book,  I  will  not 
take  place  or  office  from  the  Government,  until  emancipation  is 
carried.  Now,  Purcell,  my  man  !  will  you  do  as  much  1 '  Pnrceli 
0' Gorman  put  the  book  to  his  lips,  but  immediately  put  it  away, 
saying,  'I  won't  swear;  I  needn't !  my  word  is  as  good  as  my 
oath — I  am  sure  of  my  own  fidelity  ! '  When  Chief  Baron  O'Grady 
heard  this  story,  he  remarked,  'They  were  both  quite  right.  Go- 
vernment has  nothing  worth  O'Connell's  while  to  take,  until 
emancipation  be  carried  ;  but  anything  at  all  would  be  good 
enough  for  Purcell  O'Gorman.'" 

Some  waggish  barrister  having  accused  Nicholas  Purcell 

O'Gorman  of  being  a  musician,  the  charge  was  stoutly 

denied  by  the  accused  person. 

"A  jury,"  said  O'Connell,  "  was  thereupon  impannelled  to  try 
the  defendant,  who  persisted  in  pleading  '  Not  guilty '  to  the 
indictment  for  melodious  practices.  The  jury  consisted  of  Con 
Lyne,  under  twelve  different  aliases — such  as  '  Con  of  the  Seven 
Bottles,'  'Con  of  the  Seven  Throttles/  *  Crim-Con,'  and  so 
forth.  The  prosecutor  then  proceeded  to  interrogate  the  defen- 
dant : — '  By  virtue  of  your  oath,  Mr  O'Gorman,  did  you  never 
play  on  any  musical  instrument  1 ' — '  Never,  on  my  honour  ! '  re- 
plied Purcell.  '  Come,  sir,  recollect  yourself.  By  virtue  of  your 
oath,  did  you  never  play  second  fiddle  to  O'Connell  ? ' — The  fact 
was  too  notorious  to  admit  of  any  defence,  and  the  unanimous  jury 
accordingly  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty." 

O'Connell  once  received  a  singular  compliment  from  one 

of  his  clients  whom  he  had  unsuccessfully  defended  for 

cow-stealing — 

"  I  was  once,"  said  he,  "  counsel  for  a  cow-stealer,  who  waa 
clearly  convicted — the  sentence  was  transportation  for  fourteen 
years.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  returned,  and  happening  to 
meet  me,  he  began  to  talk  about  the  trial.    I  asked  him  how  he 


LESS0J9  IN  COW-STEALISG   GRATIS.  *2J7 


ha<l  always  managed  to  steal  the  fat  cows  ;  to  which  he  gravely 
answered  : — '  Why,  then,  I'll  tell  your  honour  the  whole  secret  of 
thot,  sir.  JFhenerer  your  honour  goes  to  steal  a  cow,  always  go  on 
the  worst  night  you  can,  for  if  the  weather  is  very  bad,  the  chances 
are  that  nobody  will  be  up  to  see  your  honour.  The  way  ym  ;11 
always  know  the  fat  cattle  in  the  dark  is  by  this  token— th*£  the 
iat  rows  always  stand  out  in  the  more  exposed  places,  but  the 
lean  ones  always  go  into  the  ditch  for  shelter.'  So,"  continued 
O'Connell,  "  I  got  that  lesson  in  cow-stealing  gratis  from  my 
worthy  client." 

O'Connell  visited  Limerick,  Cork,  and  Tralee  in  this 
circuit.  He  then  posted  to  Dublin  with  Harry  Deane  Grady. 
The  journey  was  long  and  dangerous.2  The  rebellion  had 
been  crushed  by  brute  force,  but  the  fire  was  still  smoulder- 
ing, and  bands  of  hunted  men,  who  were  unable  to  work, 
because  there  was  no  work  for  them  to  do,  and  who  could 
at  best  sell  their  lives  dearly,  haunted  the  mountains  in 

2  O'Connell  often  contrasted  the  rapid  mode  of  modern  travelling  with 
the  slower  movements  of  past  days.  "  I  remember,"  said  he,  "  when  I 
left  Darrynane  for  London  in  1795,  my  first  day's  journey  was  to  Carheil 
— my  second  to  Killorglin—iuy  third  to  Tralee — my  fourth  to  Limerick 
— two  days  thence  to  Dublin.  I  sailed  from  Dublin  in  the  evening — 
my  pas.-age  to  Holyhead  was  performed  in  twenty-four  hours  ;  from 
Holyhead  to  Chester,  took  six-and-thirty  hours  ;  from  Chester  to  London, 
three  days.  My  uncle  kept  a  diary  of  a  tour  he  made  in  England  be- 
tween the  years  '70  and  '80,  and  one  of  his  memorabilia  was  'This  day 
we  have  travelled  thirty-six  miles,  and  passed  through  part  of  rive 
counties.'  In  1780,  the  two  members  for  the  county  of  Kerry  sent  to 
Dublin  lor  a  noddy,  and  travelled  together  in  it  from  Kerry  to  Dublin. 
The  journey  occupied  seventeen  days  ;  and  each  night  the  two  members 
quartered  themselves  at  the  house  of  some  friend  ;  and  on  the  seven- 
teenth day  they  reached  Dublin,  just  in  time  for  the  commencement  of 
the  session.    I  remember  in  1817  dodging  for  eight  hours  about  Caernar- 


208 


JACK  OF  THE  ROADS. 


different  parts  of  Ireland.  Every  man's  hand  was  against 
(hem,  and  their  hand  was  against  every  man. 

A  party  had  taken  up  their  abode  in  the  Kilworth  moun- 
tains through  which  O'Connell  and  his  companion  were 
obi  iged  to  pass.  In  the  evening,  while  resting  at  the  Fermoy 
inn,  four  dragoons  came  in,  one  of  whom  was  a  corporal. 
O'Connell  and  his  companion  were  anxious  to  provide  them- 
selves with  ammunition,  but  this  was  by  no  means  easy  to 
obtain.    Mr  Cfrady  opened  negotiations  with  the  corporal — 

"  Soldier,  will  you  sell  me  some  powder  and  ball  ?  " 

"  Sir,  I  don't  sell  powder,"  replied  the  corporal,  who  in  his  own 
opinion  was  no  soldier. 

"  Will  you  then  have  the  goodness  to  buy  me  some  1 "  said 
Grady;  "in  these  unsettled  times  the  dealers  in  the  article  are 
reluctant  to  sell  it  to  strangers  like  us." 

"  Sir,"  replied  the  corporal,  "  I  am  no  man's  messenger  but  the 
king's — go  yourself. " 

"  Grady,"  said  O'Connell  in  a  low  tone,  "  you  have  made  a 
great  mistake.     Did  you  not  see  by  the  mark  on  his  sleeve  that 


von  Harbour  before  we  could  land.  When  on  shore,  I  proceeded  to 
Capelcarrig,  where  I  was  taken  very  ill  ;  and  I  was  not  consoled  by  re- 
flecting that  should  my  illness  threaten  life,  there  was  no  Catholic  priest 
within  forty  miles  of  me."  Among  other  illustrations  of  the  state  of 
things  in  the  good  old  days  of  Tory  rule,  he  recorded  the  fate  of  a  poor 
half-witted  creature  called  "  Jack  of  the  roads,"  who,  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  century,  used  to  run  alongside  the  Limerick  coaches  :—  "  He  once 
made  a  bet  of  fourpence  and  a  pot  of  porter  that  he  would  run  to  Dub]  in 
from  Limerick,  keeping  pace  with  the  mail.  He  did  so,  and  when  he 
was  passing  through.  Mountrath  on  his  return,  on  the  12th  of  July  1807 
cr  1808,  he  nourished  a  green  bough  at  a  party  of  Orangemen  who  were 
holding  their  orgies.  One  of  them  fired  at  his  face  ;  his  eyes  were  de« 
stroyed— he  lingered  and  died— and  there  was  an  end  of  poor  Jack." 


A  21 AX  TO  SUCCEED. 


209 


the  man  is  a  corporal  ?  You  mortified  his  pride  in  calling  him  a 
soldier,  especially  before  his  own  men,  amongst  whom  he  doubt- 
less plays  the  officer." 

Having  suffered  a  few  minutes  to  elapse,  O'Connell  entered  into 
conversation  with  the  dragoon: 

M  Did  you  ever  see  such  rain  as  we  had  to-day,  sergeant  ?  I  was 
very  glad  to  find  that  the  regulars  had  not  the  trouble  of  escort- 
ing the  judges.  It  was  very  suitable  work  for  those  awkward 
yeomen." 

"Yes,  indeed,  sir,"  returned  the  corporal,  evidently  flattered  at 
being  mistaken  for  a  sergeant,  "  we  were  very  lucky  in  escaping 
those  torrents  of  rain." 

"  Perhaps,  sergeant,  you  will  have  the  kindness,"  continued 
O'Connell,  "  to  buy  me  some  powder  and  ball  in  town.  We  are 
to  pass  the  Kil  worth  mountains,  and  shall  want  ammunition.  You 
can,  of  course,  find  no  difficulty  in  buying  it ;  but  it  is  not  to 
every  one  they  sell  these  matters." 

'•Sir,*'  said  the  corporal,  ''I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in  re- 
questing your  acceptance  of  a  small  supply  of  powder  and  ball. 
My  balls  will,  I  think,  just  fit  your  pistols.  You'll  stand  in  need 
of  ammunition,  for  there  are  some  of  those  out-lying  rebelly  rascals 
on  the  mountains." 

"  Dan,"  said  Grady,  in  a  low  tone,  "  you'll  go  through  the  world 
successfully,  that  I  can  easily  foresee."3 

And  Dan  did  go  through  the  world  successfully. 


*  The  last  remaining  robber  was  shot  about  the  year  1810,  by  the 
postmaster  of  Fermoy.  Several  persons  had  been  robbed  a  short  time 
previously  ;  whereupon  the  postmaster  and  another  inhabitant  of  Fer- 
moy hired  a  chaise  and  drove  to  the  mountains  of  Kilworth.  The 
robber  spied  the  chaise,  came  to  rob,  upon  which  the  postmaster  shofc 
him  dead. 

"There  was,"  said  O'Connell,  "a  narrow  causeway  thrown  across  a 
glen,  which  formed  a  peculiarly  dangerous  part  of  the  old  road  ;  it  was 

0 


210 


A  LOSING  GAME  TO  PLAY. 


(V Council's  first  speech,  was  made  in  opposition  to  the 
mi  ion.  Fortunately  a  copy  of  this  most  important  docu- 
ment has  been  preserved.  It  was  the  key-note  to 
O'Connell's  political  life,  and  from  this  first  declaration 
of  his  principles  he  never  departed  or  swerved  for  a  second. 
His  family  were  against  him,  and  especially  his  undo 
Maurice,  to  whom  he  owed  his  education.  Political  life  was 
a  dangerous  game,  and  a  losing  one,  and  old  "  Huntings 
cap,"  though  he  lived  all  his  life  in  the  wilds  of  Kerry,  knew 


undefended  by  guard-walls,  and  too  narrow  for  two  carriages  to  pass 
abreast.  The  post-boys  used  to  call  it  'the  delicate  bit and  a  ticklish 
spot  it  surely  was  on  a  dark  night,  approached  at  one  end  from  a  steep 
declivity." 

O'Connell  used  to  tell  a  good  story  of  his  friend  Harry  Grady — "  I 
remember  a  good  specimen  of  his  skill  in  cross-examination  at  an  assizes 
at  Tralee,  where  he  defended  some  still-owners  who  had  recently  had  a 
scuffle  with  five  soldiers.  The  soldiers  were  witnesses  against  the  still- 
owners.  Harry  Grady  cross-examined  each  soldier  in  the  following 
manner,  out  of  hearing  of  his  brethren,  who  were  kept  out  of  court  : — 
'  Well,  soldier,  it  was  a  murderous  scuffle,  wasn't  it  1 ' — '  Yes.'— 4  But  you 
weren't  afraid  ? ' — '  No.'—'  Of  course  you  weren't.  It  is  part  of  your 
sworn  duty  to  die  in  the  king's  service  if  needs  must.  But.  if  you  were 
not  afraid,  maybe  others  were  not  quite  so  brave  ?  Were  any  of  your 
comrades  frightened  1  Tell  the  truth  now.'— « Why,  indeed,  sir,  I  can't 
say  but  they  were.'— <  Ah,  I  thought  so.  Come,  now,  name  the  men 
who  were  frightened — on  your  oath,  now.' 

"  The  soldier  then  named  every  one  of  his  four  comrades.  He  waa 
then  sent  down,  and  another  soldier  called  upon  the  table,  to  whom 
Grady  addressed  precisely  the  same  set  of  queries,  receiving  precisely  the 
same  answers  ;  until  at  last  he  got  each  of  the  five  soldiers  to  swear, 
that  he  alone  had  fought  the  still-owners  bravely,  and  that  all  his  foul 
comrades  were  cowards.  Tims  Harry  succeeded  in  utterly  discrediting 
the  soldiers'  evidence  against  his  clients." 


WAXT  OF  UXITY. 


211 


quite  enough  of  public  affairs  to  make  him  anxious  to  keep 
Darrynane  in  the  family,  and  to  keep  young  Dan's  head  on 
Ml  shoulders.  But  young  Dan  was  thoroughly  capable  of 
taking  care  of  himself,  and  he  continued  to  steer  through 
the  difficult  period  of  the  Union  without  any  personal  in- 
convenience. 

The  Union  was  formally  brought  before  the  English 
Houses  of  Parliament  by  messages  from  the  Crown  on  the 
22d  of  January  1709,  but  Mr  Pitt  had  laid  his  plans  for 
it  as  far  back  as  1784,  when  he  came  into  office.  He  set 
himself  to  work  with  that  steady  determination  which  is 
the  best  promise  of  success,  and  with  that  unscrupulous 
disregard  of  justice  which  generally  serve*  for  a  time.  The 
difficulties  he  met  with,  and  probably  the  steady  opposition 
of  his  powerful  rival,  Fox,  were  a  further  incentive. 

Fox  had  very  clear  ideas  of  Irish  policy  for  an  English 
statesman.  He  saw  that  the  divisions  of  the  Irish  them- 
selves— those  divisions  with  which  they  have  been  so  fre- 
quently taunted,  and  which  are  so  little  understood — were 
the  principal  cause  of  the  misfortunes  of  this  unhappy 
country.  He  could  not  understand  why  Irish  politicians 
would  not  work  together,4  and  forgot  that  English  poli- 


"  February  8th,  1799. 
4  "  If  the  Irish  would  stick  to  one  another,  they  might  play  a  game 
that  would  have  more  chance  of  doing  good,  than  any  that  has  been  in 
question  for  a  long  time.  They  might  win  the  battle  that  we  lost  in  1784, 
and  which  after  all  is  the  pivot  upon  which  every  tiling  turns.  They  ought 


212    NOMINALLY  FREE  AND  INDEPENDENT. 


rioians  were  equally,  though  not  so  disastrously  divided. 
He  did  not  understand,  what  we  fear  has  never  yet  been 
thoroughly  understood,  the  state  of  government  in  Ireland, 
and  why  Irishmen  were  disunited,  or  only  united  in  parties 
to  oppose  each  other. 

The  only  attempt  at  a  Republican  government  in  Ire- 
Inn  (1  had  been  the  Parliament  of  Kilkenny,  held  by  the 
Confederates  in  1645.  It  was  certainly  some  sort  of  satis- 
faction to  the  nation  at  large  to  feel  that  they  had  any  kind 
of  national  representation  ;  the  meeting  of  a  Parliament  in 
Dublin  gave  a  certain  appearance  of  status  to  the  country, 
but  it  was  only  an  appearance.  The  members  of  both 
Houses  were,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  members  of  the 
English  Government,  the  nation  was  not  represented. 
Ireland  was  a  Catholic  nation,  yet  not  one  single  Catholic 
could  raise  his  voice  in  that  assembly.  Irishmen  were 
allowed  to  vote,  and  after  a  time  Catholics  were  allowed  to 
vote  nominally;  but  the  vote  was  only  nominal,  it  was 
little  more  than  a  badge  of  slavery ;  for  woe  to  the  free- 
holder who  dared  to  have  an  opinion  of  his  own  !  woe  to  the 
"independent  elector"  who  availed  himself  of  his  supposed 
independence. 

The  majority,  the  vast  majority,  of  those  who  sat  in  the 


to  be  very  careful  to  confine  themselves,  however,  to  Irish  ministers, 
and  great  officers  in  Ireland,  and  they  would  be  in  no  danger  (unless  I 
am  very  much  deceived  indeed)  of  being  deserted  by  the  people,  as  w« 
were." — Fox's  Letters,  vol.  iv.  p.  157. 


THE  NATIONAL  REPRESENTATION.  213 


Irish  House  of  Lords,  and  the  Irish  House  of  Commons, 
were  men  who  had  no  Irish  interests  whatever,  who,  far 
from  having  such  interests,  actually  hated  and  scorned  the 
men  whom  they  were  supposed  to  represent.  They  had  one 
god,  and  they  worshipped  him  with  unfailing  devotion — 
for  him  they  were  ready  to  sacrifice  honour,  principle, 
and  self-respect;  for  him  they  were  willing  to  imhrue 
their  hands  in  the  very  life-blood  of  the  unhappy  men 
whose  interests  they  were  supposed  to  represent.* 

Pitt  knew  perfectly  well  the  difficulties  he  would  have  to 
meet  in  effecting  his  purpose.  He  had  four  classes  to  deal 
with,  and  he  dealt  with  them  one  by  one  with  a  masterly 
ability  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 


*  Fox  wrote  to  Lord  II< .llan'l  on  the  10th  of  January  1700  : — 
"I  own  I  think, according  to  the  plan  \\  it h  which  you  have  set  out, that 
you  ought  to  attend  the  Union  ;  nor  do  I  feel  much  any  of  your  ol sec- 
tions, I  mean  to  attendance,  for  in  all  those  to  the  Union  I  agree  with 
you  entirely.  If  it  were  only  for  the  state  of  representation  in  their 
House  of  Commons,  I  should  object  to  it ;  but  when  you  add  the  state 
of  the  country,  it  is  the  most  monstrous  proposition  that  ever  was  made. 
what  has  given  rise  to  the  report  of  my  being  f>r  it  I  cannot  guess,  as 
exclusive  of  temporary  objections  I  never  had  the  least  liking  to  the 
SPefcsure,  though  I  confess  I  have  less  attended  to  the  arguments  pro  and 
v>n  than  |  erhaps  I  otherwise  should  have  done,  from  a  full  conviction 
that  it  was  completely  impossible.  You  know,  I  dare  say,  that  my 
general  principle  in  politics  is  very  much  against  the  0*6  and  indivisible, 
and  if  1  were  to  allow  myself  a  leaning  to  any  extreme  it  would  be  to 
that  of  Federalism.  Pray,  therefore,  whenever  you  hear  my  opinion  men- 
tioned, declare  for  me  my  decided  disapprobation  ;  not  that  I  would  have 
my  wish  to  have  this  known  a  reason  fur  your  attendance,  however,  if 
otherwise  you  wish  to  stay  away." — /W*  Correspondence,  vol.  iv.  p.  150- 


214 


COST  OF  A  STATE  POLICY. 


He  had  to  deal  with  the  people  of  Ireland,  with  those 
units  who  are  considered  so  insignificant  when  counted 
by  ones,  who  are  so  terribly  formidable  when  you  ccme 
to  add  the  ones,  and  discover  that  they  amount  to  millions. 
A  multitude  is  terribly  formidable  even  without  leaders, 
even  when  they  are  held  in  chains.  The  English  ministei 
knew  this,  and  crushed  the  multitude.  If  it  did  cost  some 
millions  of  money,  what  matter !  his  was  an  extravagant 
administration,  and  he  hoped  to  revenge  himself  after  the 
Union.  As  to  the  lives,  the  agony,  the  legacy  of  hatred, 
all  that  "  went  without  saying."  Perhaps  he  deplored  the 
blood  and  crime  a  little,  not  having  the  brutal  nature  of 
Cromwell,  who  delighted  in  it,  but  he  consoled  himself 
with  the  reflection  that  state  policy  requires  sacrifice. 

The  benefit  of  England  was  the  one  grand  object.6  It 


6  This  was  no  secret.  In  1699,  Sir  Richard  Cox  wrote  a  work,  en- 
titled "  The  English  Interest  in  Ireland,"  proposing  a  Union  in  the  fol- 
lowing words  : — 

"  It  is  your  interest  to  unite  and  incorporate  us  with  England  ;  for 
by  that  means  the  English  interest  will  always  be  prevalent  here,  and  the 
kingdom  as  secure  to  you  as  Wales,  or  any  county  in  England.  Your 
taxes  will  be  lessened  when  we  bear  part  of  the  burden.  .  .  .  All  our 
money  will  still  centre  at  London;  and  our  trade  and  communicatica 
with  England  will  be  so  considerable,  that  we  shall  think  ourselves  at 
home  when  there  ;  and  where  one  goes  thither  now,  then  ten  will  go 
when  all  our  business  is  transacted  in  your  Parliament,  to  which,  if  we 
send  sixty-four  knights  lor  our  thirty-two  counties,  ten  lords,  and  six 
bishops,  they  may  spend  our  money,  but  cannot  influence  your  councils  to 
your  disadvantage.  .  .  .  By  the  Union,  England  will  get  much  of  out 
money,  and  abundance  of  our  trade." 

This  man  was  a  specimen  of  the  class  of  men  who  carried  the  Union 


IRELAND  A  DEPEXDEXCY. 


215 


ffas  right,  it  was  more  than  justifiable  that  Englishmen 
should  seek  the  advancement  of  their  own  nation  above  all 
thing>,  but  they  were  equally  bound  in  common  honesty 
either  to  treat  Irish  interests  as  synonymous  with  their 
own,  or  to  leave  Ireland  perfectly  free  to  look  after  her 
<  wn  interests.  It  was  not  just  to  treat  her  as  a  dependency, 
or  rather  as  a  country  which  was  to  be  used  solely  for 
the  interests  of  those  who  had  made  themselves  her  masters 
by  force  of  arms. 

Fox  was  probably  the  only  English  statesman  of  his 
time  who  had  thoroughly  clear  ideas  as  to  the  duty  and  the 
good  policy  of  making  English  and  Irish  interests  coincide. 
He  held  and  expressed  strong  views  as  to  the  power  of  the 
people,  and  was  decidedly  of  opinion  that  Parliament  could 
not  make  a  Union  between  the  two  countries  either  with 
legal  or  moral  right,  unless  Parliament  had  the  sanction  of 
the  people. 

*'  Supposing  the  Stamp  Act  were  beneficial  to  America, 

or  who  represented  Ireland.  Though  lii-li  by  birth,  his  interests  were 
wholly  English. 

In  1751,  Sir  Matthew  Dicker  wrote  "  Essays  on  Trade,"  in  which  he 
•nil  : — 

"By  a  union  with  Ireland  the  taxes  of  Great  Britain  will  be  les- 
sened." In  1767,  Postlethwayte  wrote  a  work,  entitled  "  Britain's  Com- 
mercial Interest,"  in  which  he  said  :  "  By  the  Union,  Ireland  would  soon 
be  enabled  to  pay  a  million  a  year  towards  the  taxes  of  Great  Britain  ; 
the  riches  of  Ireland  would  chiefly  return  to  England,  she  containing 
the  seat  of  empire  ;  the  Irish  lairds  would  be  little  better  than  tenants  to 
her,  for  allowing  them  the  privilege  of  making  the  best,  of  their  rela- 
tions."— P.  203. 


218 


FOX  ON  THE  UNION. 


Parliament  was  not  competent  in  any  sense  of  the  word 
to  enact  it.  Supposing  a  Union  would  be  beneficial  to 
Ireland,  Parliament  again  is  not  competent  to  enact  it, 
because  it  is  not  within  its  commission  to  destroy  the  cola* 
stitution  which  it  is  instituted  to  support,  even  though  it 
should  place  a  better  in  its  stead;  and  here  comes  in  with 
propriety  what  Locke  says,  that  Parliament  is  to  make 
laws  and  not  legislatures.  I  cannot  think,  for  instance, 
that  Parliament  is  competent  to  declare  Great  Britain  an 
absolute  monarchy,  or  a  republic,  though  it  should 
be  of  opinion  that  the  change  would  be  for  the 
better.  For  such  revolutions  there  must  be  a  known 
opinion  of  the  people,  and  though  such  opinion  be  difficult 
to  collect  legally,  yet  for  practical  purposes  it  may  be  col- 
lected in  a  practical  way,  as  I  contend  that  it  was,  or  at 
least  that  it  was  pretended  to  be,  in  1088  and  1706.  It  is 
said  that  this  reasoning  goes  to  say,  that  Parliament,  which 
is  instituted  to  improve,  cannot  be  competent  to  impair 
the  Constitution ;  the  answer  is,  that  whether  a  projected 
alteration  be  an  improvement  or  an  injury,  is  a  question 
upon  which  Parliament  is  commissioned  to  judge,  but 
annihilation  (which  Union  must  be  allowed  to  be) 
is  not  within  their  commission.  That  it  is  nmihila- 
tion,  I,  of  course,  suppose  proved,  before  I  deny  the  com- 
petence." 

We  have  seen  how  Mr  Pitt  dealt  with  the  people.  His 
mode  of  dealing  with  the  upper  classes  was  far  more  simple 


LANDLORD  AND  TENANT.  217 

and  effective.  They  wanted  money,  and  he  flung  it  about 
With  reckless  prodigality.  The  sale  of  boroughs  was  always 
a  profitable  source  of  income  to  Anglo-Irish  noblemen. 
They  wi  re  a  needy  race,  and  by  no  means  satisfied  with 
their  poverty.  In  their  folly  and  infatuation  they  en- 
couraged the  rebellion,  forgetting  that  they  were  but  im- 
poverishing themselves.  They  soon  learned  their  fatal 
mistake,  but  they  had  not  the  wisdom  to  discern  the 
remedy. 

It  was  always  hard  for  the  Irish  tenant  to  pay  his  rent, 
necau>e  he  was  not  allowed  a  straw  for  his  bricks,  though 
the  bricks  were  required  all  the  same  ;  but  after  the  rebel- 
lion there  was  a  deficiency  of  tenants,  and  no  amount  of 
torture  could  wring  money  from  the  hapless  few  who  re- 
mained to  till  the  impoverished  soil.  The  circulation  of  the 
Bank  of  Ireland  also  was  discredited,  and,  of  course,  the 
poor  were  the  sufferers.  The  tenants  were  obliged  to  pay 
in  gold  when  they  could  be  made  pay  at  all,  but  the  scar- 
city was  so  great  that  the  tradesmen  were  paid  in  paper 
money,  thus  throwing  the  burden  still  on  the  people.7 


7  On  the  8th  June  1799,  Lord  Devonshire  wrote  to  Lord  Castlereagh  . 
"Whilst  I  have  the  pen  in  my  hand,  I  beg  leave  to  trespass  upon  your 
Lordship  a  little  longer,  to  state  a  great  grievance  that  this  part  of  the 
world  labours  under,  which,  if  possible,  ought  to  be  stopped — that  is,  the 
sale  of  the  gold  coin.  When  Government  thought  fit,  two  or  three 
years  ago,  to  encourage  the  circulation  of  bank  paper,  that  traffic  began. 
I  gave  all  the  assistance  I  could  to  Government  in  their  object;  and 
took  bank  paper  in  my  office  for  rent,  which  I  still  continue  to  do,  which, 


218 


BRIBERY  AND  INCAPABILITY. 


The  bribery  system  was  not  made  any  secret.  Gentle- 
men knew  their  worth,  and  were  by  no  means  modest 
in  proclaiming  it.  If  they  were  to  sell  honour  and 
conscience,  at  least  they  meant  to  have  the  fall  value  of 
both. 

Lord  Cornwallis  wrote  to  Major-General  Ros«  01?  the  23d 
November  1798,  and  gave  some  charmingly  naive  descrip- 
tions of  how  affairs  were  being  managed.  He  was  obliged 
to  talk  a  great  deal,  and  found  it  a  bore.  He  thought  the 
Catholics  might  as  well  have  got  the  benefit  of  what  was 
going,  they,  at  the  very  time,  being  kept  under  the  de- 
lusion that  they  were  to  be  included.  He  declared  the 
Lords-Lieutenant  had  been  idle  and  incapable,  yet  Irish 
men  were  wildly  blamed  if  they  were  not  loyal  to  them, 


I  believe,  none  of  my  neighbours  do.  I  understand  Lord  Hertford, 
Lord  Donegal,  Lord  Londonderry,  &c,  never  have  and  do  not  take  any 
paper  for  their  rents  ;  but  now  I  cannot  pay  a  bill  to  any  tradesman  in 
Belfast  or  the  country,  in  bank  notes,  without  allowing  from  threepence 
to  eightpence  in  every  guinea.  I  understand  it  is  the  same  hi  the  pay 
of  the  army.  The  conduct  of  the  Bank  of  Ireland  is  so  illiberal,  if  not 
illegal,  and,  besides,  take  so  little  pains  to  stop  forgeries  upon  them,  that 
I  shall  no  longer  take  their  paper  as  rent  in  my  office.  There  is  scarce 
a  remittance  made  to  Dublin  but  two  or  three  notes  are  returned  as 
forged.  They  have  left  off  defacing  the  note,  indeed,  as  they  used  to 
do,  by  which  a  poor  honest  man  lost  eight  five-pound  notes  that  my 
agent  recovered  for  him  ;  but  he  had  not  taken  the  same  precaution 
my  agent  did,  as  the  notes  were  so  defaced  by  an  oiled  red  stamp  that 
lie  could  not  swear  to  the  paper,  and  those  that  he  thought  had  paid 
them  to  him  denied  that  these  notes  were  those  they  paid  him.  I  have 
ordered  no  notes  to  be  taken,  till  some  means  are  devised  to  prevent  the 
gross  imposition  of  paying  for  goloV' 


PICTURE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  IRELAND.  219 


and  he  declared  the  whole  manner  of  governing  Ireland 

was  founded  on  the  "  grossest  corruption. " 

On  the  27th  of  April  1799,  Lord  Cornwall^  wrote  to 

the  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  giving  a  wretched  picture  of  the 

state  of  Ireland. 

"  This  wretched  country  remains  much  in  the  same  state, — the 
seeds  of  disaffection,  of  hatred  of  England,  and  in  particular  (and, 
I  am  sorry  to  say,  in  general  with  more  reason)  of  their  own  land- 
lords, are  as  deeply  rooted  as  ever,  and  frequently  break  out  in 
various  shapes,  such  as  the  murder  of  magistrates,  or  the  hough- 
ing of  cattle  :  our  politicians  of  the  old  leaven  are  as  much  occu- 
pied with  their  dirty  jobs  as  ever.  Those  who  think  at  all  of  the 
great  question  of  the  Union,  confine  their  speculation  to  the 
simple  question  of  its  either  promoting  or  counteracting  their  own 
private  views,  and  the  great  mass  of  the  people  neither  think  cr 
care  about  the  matter.  Under  these  circumstances,  you  will 
easily  conceive  how  unpleasant  my  situation  must  be,  and  how  little 
I  can  flatter  myself  with  the  hopes  of  obtaining  any  credit  for 
myself,  or  of  rendering  any  essential  service  to  my  country. 
Sincerely  do  I  repent  that  I  did  not  return  to  Bengal.  '8 

The  interested  parties  were  soon  satisfied.    A  sum  of 

£1,'JG0,000  was  expended  in  buying  up  the  boroughs,  and 

with  the  addition  of  a  few  peerages  and  pen- ions,  the 

•  Cornwallis  Correspondence,  vol.  3,  p.  93. 

"  My  time  has  lately  been  much  taken  up  with  seeing,  and  breaking 
to  the  principal  persons  here,  the  projected  Union,  and  when  you  send 
for  a  man  on  such  business,  he  must  stay  with  you  and  talk  to  you  as 
long  as  he  likes.  I  have  no  great  doubts  of  being  able  to  carry  the 
measure  here,  but  I  have  great  apprehensions  of  the  inefficacy  of  it  after 
it  is  carried,  and  I  do  not  think  it  would  have  been  much  more  difficult 
to  have  included  the  Catholics. 

"  Those  who  are  called  principal  persons  here,  are  men  who  have  been 


220     J10R0UG II- M ONGER 1NG  AND  CAJOLING. 


work  was  done.  Lord  Devonshire  got  £52,500,  and  Lord 
Ely  £45,000.  Three  or  four  powerful  families  had  the 
representation  of  Ireland  completely  in  their  power,  either 
by  the  possession  of  large  property,  or  by  intermarriages. 
The  Ponsonbys  had  no  less  than  twenty-two  seats  under 
their  complete  control.  The  Devonshire  and  Beresford 
families  had  almost  the  same  number.  Lord  Longueville 
ruled  Cork  and  Mallow  with  six  other  places. 

The  principal  difficulty  was  with  the  Catholic  clergy, 
who  could  not  be  bribed,  but  whom  it  was  quite  possible  to 
deceive.  The  managers  of  the  Union  were  not  particular  how 
the  work  was  effected,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  Lord 
Corn  wallis,  who  had  some  idea  of  honour  even  where  Papists 
were  concerned.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  Catholic 
Bishops,  who  worked  for  the  Union,  did  not  see  some  oi 
the  private  correspondence  in  which  they  were  mentioned, 
and  did  not  hear  some  of  the  private  conversations  which 
have  been  recorded,  and  sent  down  to  posterity. 

Sir  J.  Hippisley,  who  was  specially  employed  to  cajole 
the  Catholics,  wrote  to  Lord  Castlereagh : — 

"  The  Speaker  told  me,  some  time  before,  that  Mr  Pitt  had 
much  approved  the  suggestions  I  had  offered,  with  respect  to  the 


raised  into  consequence,  only  by  having  the  entire  disposal  of  the  pat 
ronage  of  the  Crown  in  return  for  their  undertaking  the  management 
of  the  country,  because  the  Lords-Lieutenant  were  too  idle  or  too  in- 
capable to  management  it  themselves.  They  are  detested  by  everybody 
but  their  immediate  followers,  and  have  no  influence  but  what  is  founded 
on  the  grossest  corruption."—  Cornwallis'  Correspondence,  vol.  3,  p.  445. 


EARL  ALT  A  MO  XT  AXD  HIS  ASSOCIATES.  221 


distinctions  and  checks  on  the  Monastic  Clergy.  Your  Lordship 
will  permit  me  to  quote  a  vulgar  Italian  proverb,  which  is  this: — 
"One  must  he  aware  of  a  bull  before,  of  an  ass  at  his  heels,  and  of 
a  friar  on  all  sides."  Seven  years'  experience  on  Catholic  ground 
convinced  me  that  this  adage  was  well  imagined." 

On  the  5th  of  June  1799,  the  Earl  of  Altamont  wrote 
from  Westport  House — "  The  priests  have  all  appeared  to 
6ign,  and  though  I  am  not  proud  of  many  of  them  as  asso- 
ciates, I  will  take  their  signatures  to  prevent  a  possibility 
of  a  counter  declaration."  9 

On  the  3rd  of  June  1799,  Lord  Castlereagh  wrote  to 


•  "  If  the  Roman  Catholics  stand  forward,  it  will  be  unwillingly;  they 
are  keeping  bock  decidedly,  but  many  will  be  influenced,  and  some  few 
who  connected  themselves  with  the  Protestants  during  the  disturbance 
will  be  zealously  forward  on  the  present  occasion.  The  priests  have  all 
offered  to  sign  ;  and,  though  I  am  not  proud  of  many  of  them  as  asso- 
ciates, I  will  take  their  signatures,  to  prevent  a  possibility  of  a  counter- 
declaration.  I  hear  the  titular  Archbishop  has  expressed  himself  inclined 
to  the  measure  This  day,  I  have  sent  round  to  all  the  Catholics  oi 
property  in  the  country  :  I  may  be  mistaken,  but,  in  my  judgment,  the 
wish  of  the  most  of  them  would  be  to  stand  neuter  ;  or,  perhaps,  if  they 
had  any  countenance,  to  oppose  it — that  is  the  fact  Several  will  sign 
from  influence,  some  from  fear;  but  the  majority,  I  believe,  will  pretend 
that  they  have  given  opinions  already,  and  can't  decently  retract  them. 
You  shall  know  exactly  when  I  get  to  Dublin.  Every  man  applied  to, 
of  all  persuasions,  wants  to  make  it  personal  compliment" — Memoir  oj 
Viscount  Castlereagh,  vol.  ii.  p.  328. 

Mr  Cook  wrote  to  Lord  Castlereagh  at  the  close  of  1798  to  inform 
him  of  public  opinion  in  Dublin  :  — 

"  The  Dublin  argument  is  this: — Absenteeism  will  increase— interest 
of  the  debt  to  England  will  increase — and  we  cannot  bear  the  drain.  Our 
manufactures  will  be  ruined  by  putting  an  end  to  duties  between  the 
two  countries.  All  the  proprietors  in  Dublin  must  be  injured.  We 
shall  be  liable  to  British  debts,"  &c 


222  THE  CLERGY  AND  THE  UNION, 


the  Duke  of  Portland  that  the  rebellion  "  was  managed  by 
the  inferior  priests."  There  were  certainly  some  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  who  united  with  the  rebels  in  self-defence, 
but  a  careful  examination  of  the  correspondence  of  the 
times  will  show  at  once  that  they  were  few  in  number,  and 
that  the  Government  relied  much  on  the  co-operation  of  the 
priests,  even  at  the  very  time  that  many  of  them  were  being 
treated  with  inhuman  cruelty. 

On  the  20th  of  July  1799,  Lord  Cornwallis  wrote  to 
the  Duke  of  Portland,  that  the  u  clergy  of  the  Church,  par- 
ticularly the  superior,  countenance  the  measure,"  and  that 
the  linen  merchants  of  the  north  were  much  too  busy  with 
their  trade  to  think  much  on  the  subject.1    If  the  Catholic 


1  These  letters  are  so  important  an  illustration  of  the  state  of  Ireland 
at  this  period  that  we  give  further  extracts: — 

"  Within  these  few  clays,  the  Catholics  have  shown  a  disposition  to 
depart  from  their  line  of  neutrality,  and  to  support  the  measure.  Those 
of  the  city  of  Waterford  have  sent  up  a  very  strong  declaration  in 
favour  of  Union,  at  the  same  time  expressing  a  hope  that  it  will  lead 
to  the  accomplishment  of  their  emancipation,  as  they  term  it,  but  not 
looking  to  it  as  a  preliminary.  The  Catholics  of  Kilkenny  have  agree! 
to  a  similar  declaration  ;  and,  as  the  clergy  of  that  Church,  particularly 
the  superiors,  countenance  the  measure,  it  is  likely  to  extend  itself. 

"  In  the  North,  the  public  opinion  is  much  divided  on  the  question. 
In  Deny  and  Donegal,  the  gentry  are  in  general  well-disposed.  The 
linen  merchants  are  too  busily  employed  in  their  trade  to  think  much 
on  the  subject,  or  to  take  an  active  part  on  either  side  ;  but  I  under- 
stand they  are,  on  the  whole,  rather  favourable,  wishing  to  have  their 
trade  secured,  which  they  do  not  feel,  notwithstanding  the  Speaker's 
argument,  to  be  independent  of  Great  Britain." — Memoirs  of  Viscount 
Castlereacjk,  vol  ii.  p.  351. 


AN   UNCOXSTITUTIONAL  PRACTICE.  22:1 


Bouth  had  been  allowed  to  trade  as  well  as  the  Protestant 
north,  and  permitted  the  same  liberty  of  conscience,  Eng- 
land might  have  saved  herself  some  millions  of  money. 

There  was  some  difficulty  in  Tipperary,  and  Lord  Castle- 
reegh  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Portland  complaining  that  the 
country  members  had  voted  against  the  Government,  which 
he  declared  to  be  a  "  a  very  unconstitutional  practice," 
and  but  too  prevalent  in  Ireland.  Thus,  while  the  tenant 
was  compelled  to  vote  as  his  landlord  pleased,  his  repre- 
sentative was  to  vote  as  the  Government  pleased.  This, 
of  course,  was  only  in  the  Irish  Parliament,  where  tenants 
and  members  should  alike  be  deeply  grateful  for  the  pri- 
vilege of  being  allowed  to  vote  at  all,  and  were  bound, 
according  to  English  views  of  Irish  constitutional  liberty, 
to  vote  as  their  masters  ordered  them.  Certainly,  under 
the  circumstances,  it  ought  not  to  have  been  so  difficult  to 
carry  the  Union.  Neither  wuld  it  have  been  difficult, 
had  not  a  number  of  the  members  discovered  that  a  good 
deal  of  capital  could  be  made  of  their  votes.8 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  and  able  letters  of  the  whole 


2  Lord  tie  Clifford  wrote  an  elaborate  letter  to  Mr  Townsend,  23d 
July  1799,  in  which  lie  puts  forward  very  strong  objections  to  the 
Union,  manifestly  for  the  purpose  of  enhancing  his  price.  With  a  can- 
dour almost  too  transparent  for  laughter,  he  concludes  by  saying  that, 
if  lie  believed  the  measure  for  the  public  good,  he  would  sacrifice  hi* 
boroughs  ;  hut  as  he  does  not,  he  cannot  be  unmindful  of  his  private 
Uitere>ts.  One  can  scarcely  believe  it  possible  that  any  educated  man 
ODuld  coolly  write  his  own  shame  so  openly. 


MR  LUKE  FOX. 


series  was  written  by  Mr  Luke  Fox,  afterwards  a  judge  of 
Common  Pleas,  to  Lord  Castlereagh.  He  grasped  the 
whole  subject  with  resolute  precision.3  The  population  of 
Ireland,  lie  estimated  at  more  than  five  millions  five  hun- 
dred thousand.  Of  these  only  500,000  were  Protestants. 
This  population  was  again  divided  into  three  classes,  who 
1  composed  three  distinct  nations,  as  different  in  character 
.iiid  principles  and  habits  of  life  as  the  antipodes." 

"  The  object  is  to  form  them  into  one  united  people  under  the 


3  The  following  extracts  from  his  letter  will  prove  that  he  did  this : — 

"  With  regard  to  the  measure  itself,  supposing  the  nation,  or  even  the 
Parliament,  should  be  induced  to  adopt  it,  I  much  fear  that  the  great 
number  of  absentees  which  would  immediately  follow  its  being  carried 
into  execution  would  be  much  more  likely  to  occasion  the  rebellion's 
breaking  out  afresh,  than  it  would  tend  to  restoring  peace  and  quietness, 
even  were  the  majority  of  the  well-affected  in  favour  of  it.  It  is  a 
well-known  fact  to  those  that  are  at  all  acquainted  with  the  interior  of 
Ireland,  that  a  very  great  majority  of  the  people  look  upon  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  land  of  the  country  as  a  set  of  usurpers,  and  have  been  ready 
(time  immemoiial)  to  rise  and  wrest  their  property  from  them  on  the 
first  opportunity.  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  we  owe  the  salvation 
of  the  country  during  the  late  rebellion  (which,  by  the  by,  I  fear  is  not 
suppressed,  but  barely  smothered)  more  to  the  personal  exertions  of  the 
country  gentlemen  in  devoting  their  whole  time,  their  lives,  and  their 
properties,  to  keeping  their  tenantry  and  neighbours  in  order,  than  we 
do  to  the  great  military  force  that  was  brought  into  the  kingdom.  If. 
by  forcing  a  Union  upon  this  country,  you  disgust  one-half  of  these 
gentlemen  and  convert  the  other  half  into  absentees,  you  will  leave  the 
country  a  prey  to  the  machinations  of  the  disaffected,  and  the  conse- 
quence I  fear  would  be  fatal." 

He  then  alludes  to  the  Scotch  Union,  and  says  Scotland  would  have 
improved  just  as  fast  if  left  independent  :— 

"  The  very  reverse  appears  to  me  to  be  the  best  policy  for  Ireland. 


LETTER  OF  MR   LUKE  FOX. 


rule  of  the  British  constitution,  and  to  unite,  by  sentiment  and 
interest,  that  people  to  Great  Britain.  Our  fleets  may  display 
their  triumphant  flags  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe  ;  our  troops 
may  conquer,  but  barren  are  their  laurels  and  futile  their 
triumphs,  when  compared  to  the  advantages  likely  to  result  to 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  from  this  measure  in  a  military,  com- 
mercial and  financial  point  of  view.  But,  to  proceed  to  delineate 
the  mode — it  is  material  to  observe  how  these  three  distinct 
bodies,  the  Protestants,  the  Presbyterians,  and  the  Catholics, 
stand  affected  to  the  question  of  Union. 

"The  Frotr-tants,  composing  about  50,000  souls,  the  descend- 
ants of  English  colonists,  possess  the  whole  power  and  patronage, 
and  almost  the  whole  landed  property  of  the  country. 

11  They  are,  of  course,  political  monopolists,  and  can  only  be 
gained  by  influence. 

"  The  Catholics,  composing  the  mass  of  the  population,  amount- 
ing at  least  to  three  millions — four  would  have  been  more  correct — 
of  souls,  descendants  of  the  original  inhabitants,  or  of  colonists 
who  degenerated,  and,  in  the  language  of  the  historian,  not  very 


The  landed  interest  you  have  already  attached  to  you,  both  from  prin- 
ciple and  interest.  The  great  body  of  the  people  are  against  you,  and 
I  should  therefore  think  that,  instead  of  holding  out  inducements  to 
them  to  leave  it,  you  ought  rather  to  give  them  every  encouragement  to 
reside  upon  their  estates,  and  guard  the  mutual  interests  and  connection 
of  the  two  kingdoms,  where  they  have  most  power  to  do  it  with  effect. 

"Lcrd  Castlereagh  informs  me  that  'it  is  intended  that  the  counties 
should  return  two  members,  as  at  present ;  that  the  populous  cities  and 
towns  should  return  one  member  each,  and  the  rest  of  the  boroughs  be 
pasted  as  in  Scotland,  making  a  proportionate  compensation  to  the 
proprietors/  Though  I  solemnly  declare  I  would  not  hesitate  a  mo- 
ment sacrificing  my  borough  interest  if  I  was  convinced  the  measure 
was  f<  it  the  public  good,  I  cannot  be  expected  (entertaining  the  doubts 
that  I  do  respecting  it),  to  be  wholly  unmindful  of  my  private  interests, 
and  I  should  wish  much  to  know  in  what  light  my  boroughs  would  be 
looked  upon  according  to  this  plan." 

P 


L'2G 


LETTER  OF  MR  LUKE  FOX. 


classical  hut  strong,  became  Hibernicu  ipsis  Hiberniores,  are,  for  the 
most  part,  poor,  uneducated,  and  ignorant,  deriving  weight  almost 
solely  from  their  numbers,  added  to  a  natural  vigour  of  body  and 
astuteness  of  mind,  capable,  under  a  proper  regimen,  of  being 
modelled  to  the  most  beneficial  ends,  both  civil  and  military. 
They  are  at  present  in  the  lowest  state  of  political  depression,  in 
a  semi-barbarous  state  (as  has  been  truly  observed),  and  thereby 
eminently  qualified  to  answer  the  continual  drains  on  a  great 
commercial  empire  to  supply  her  fleets  and  armies  in  every  acces- 
sible quarter  of  the  globe.    These  are  to  be  gained  by  concession. 

"  The  Protestants  are,  from  every  motive  of  a  monopolising 
interest,  determined  opponents  to  the  scheme  of  Union,  by  which 
they  must  lose  that  monopoly  of  power  and  profit,  which  it  is  not 
in  human  nature  voluntarily  to  resign  when  once  possessed. 
Does  any  man  think  that  Mr  Foster  and  Mr  Ponsonby  are  actu- 
ated by  such  motives  1  Religion  is  a  mere  pretence — the  true 
bone  of  contention  is  the  monopoly  of  Irish  power  and 
patronage." 

Never  was  a  truer  word  said.  Not  only  did  these  mono- 
polists sell  "  power  and  patronage,"  but  they  actually  made 
every  effort  to  depress  Irish  industry,  because,  if  the  Irish 
once  began  to  be  an  independent  nation,  their  gain  was 
gone.4 

Such  was  the  state  of  public  affairs  when  O'Connell  made 
his  first  speech.    The  bar  were  nearly  all  against  the  Union, 

4  The  Beresford  family  were  amongst  the  most  rapacious  and  unsc.ru? 
pulous  of  this  class.  Lord  Auckland  wrote  to  Mr  Beresford,  that  Eng- 
land "  ought  to  check  that  system  of  liberality  and  fostering  protection 
which  tended  to  increase  Irish  capital  and  prosperity,  and  give  ex- 
tended means  of  mischief."  So  that  all  that  has  been  done  to  ruin 
Ireland  was  not  considered  sufficient  by  those  men  who  wished  to  build 
their  fortunes  on  her  misery. 


THE  BAR  AXD   THE   US  ION. 


227 


and  even  Mr  Saurin,  who  was  the  father  of  the  bar.  and  a 

conscientious  hater  of  Catholics,  was  warmly  opposed  to  it. 

The  bar  held  their  first  meeting  on  the  9th  of  December 

1 798.    Mr  Saurin  had  been  elected  some  years  before  to 

the  command  of  the  Lawyers'  Volunteer  Corps,  and  now 

issued  the  following  order: — 

"  Lawyers'  Infantry. — The  corps  is  ordered  to  parade  at 
twelve  at  noon  at  the  new  court  in  the  new  regimentals.  A 
punctual  attendance  is  requested,  as  business  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance is  to  be  transacted. 

u  (Signed)       Stewart  King,  Adjutant." 

The  majority  of  the  bar,5  however,  suggested  that  a  dis- 
cussion in  an  armed  assembly  was  unsuitable,  and  the 
result  was  a  meeting  as  civilians.  At  this  meeting  Mr 
Saurin  moved — 

u  That  the  measure  of  a  legislative  union  of  Great  Britain, 
is  an  innovation  which  it  would  be  highly  dangerous  and  im- 
proper to  propose  at  the  present  juncture  of  affairs  in  this 
country." 

Mr  Plimket  said — 

"  Should  the  administration  propose  that  measure  now,  it  will 
be  carried.    For  animosity  and  want  of  time  to  consider  coolly  its 


6  Lord  Cornwallis  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Portland  : — "The  bar  have 
been  most  forward  in  their  opposition,  and  have  been  this  day  assembled 
as  a  corps,  it  is  understood,  with  an  intention  of  taking  up  the  question. 
Should  that  learned  body  be  so  intemperate  as  to  set  an  example  to  the 
yeomanry  at  large,  unconstitutional  in  the  extreme,  and  dangerous  to  the 
public  safety,  I  shall  feel  myself  called  on,  in  the  outset,  to  meet  this 
attempt  to  overawe  the  King's  Government  and  the  legislature  with 
decision." — Cornwallis'  Correspondence,  vol.  i;i.  p.  5. 


828        SPREAD  OF  ANTI-UNION  FEELING. 


consequences,  and  fort}'  thousand  British  troops  in  Ireland,  will 
cam"  the  measure.  But  in  a  little  time  the  people  will  awaken  as 
from  a  dream,  and  what  consequences  will  follow  I  tremble  to 
think.  For  myself,  I  declare  that  I  oppose  a  union  principally  be- 
cause I  am  convinced  that  it  will  accelerate  a  total  separation  of 
the  two  countries." 

The  determined  conduct  of  the  bar  was  certainly  annoy- 
ing to  the  Government,  and  on  the  15th  December  Lord 
Cornwallis  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Portland  : — 

["  Secret  and  confidential."] 

"  Dublin  Castle,  Dec.  15,  1798. 

"  My  Lord, — Your  Grace  will  probably  have  seen  in  the  papers 
an  account  of  the  violence  which  disgraced  the  meeting  of  the 
barristers,  and  of  the  miserable  figure  which  the  friends  of  Union 
made  on  a  division  of  32  against  162. 

"  The  bankers  and  merchants  are  to  meet  on  Tuesday  next,  and 
I  do  not  expect  a  more  favourable  division  on  that  occasion.  In 
point  of  indecency  of  manners  and  language,  they  cannot  surpass 
the  gentlemen  of  the  learned  profession. 

"  Our  reports  of  the  reception  of  the  measure  in  the  North  are 
not  favourable,  especially  about  Belfast,  and  the  principal  Catho- 
lics about  Dublin  begin  to  hold  a  much  less  sanguine  language 
about  the  probable  conduct  of  their  brethren,  and  are  disposed  to 
think  that,  in  this  part  of  the  kingdom  at  least,  the  greater  number 
of  them  will  join  in  the  opposition  to  the  Union." 

In  a  confidential  and  friendly  letter  to  Major-General 

Boss,  he  said — 

"The  opposition  to  the  Union  increases  daily  in  and  about 
Dublin,  and  I  am  afraid,  from  conversations  which  I  have  held 
with  persons  much  connected  with  them,  that  I  was  too  sanguine 
when  I  hoped  for  the  good  inclinations  of  the  Catholics.  Their 
disposition  is  so  completely  alienated  from  the  British  Govern- 


THE  "ANTI-UNION?  NO.  I. 


229 


merit,  that  I  believe  they  would  even  be  tempted  to  join  with 
their  bitterest  enemies,  the  Protestants  of  Ireland,  if  they  thought 
that  measure  would  lead  to  a  total  separation  of  the  two  countries. 
My  thoughts  may  be  more  gloomy,  as  a  black  north  east  wind  is 
blowing  with  great  violence,  and  darkening  the  hemisphere  ;  but 
I  think,  from  the  folly,  obstinacy,  and  gross  corruption  which  per- 
vade  every  corner  of  this  island,  that  it  is  impossible  that  it  can 
be  saved  from  destruction.  I  tremble  likewise  for  the  spirit  of 
enterprise  w  hich  prevails  on  your  side  of  the  water,  without  troops, 
and  in  defiance  of  the  seasons."0 

On  the  27th  of  December  1 70S,  the  first  number  of  the 
Anti-Union  newspaper  was  published.  Plunket,  Grattan, 
and  Burke  were  the  chief  contributors  ;  they  were  the  men 
of  the  day.  How  little  did  any  one  anticipate  that  the  young 
barrister,  whose  maiden  speech  is  recorded  in  one  of  its 
earliest  numbers,  would  at  a  future  time  wield  a  power,  and 
possess  an  influence  far  superior  to  theirs — that  this  youth 
would  obtain  the  justice  so  long  asked  for  by  Catholics,  and 
which  was  denied  even  to  their  eloquence  and  patriotism. 

These  meetings  were  carefully  watched,  and  Major  Sirr, 
hut  too  well  known  for  undertaking  any  mean  office  re- 
quired by  Government,  clattered  into  the  Royal  Exchange 
J  lull  when  Mr  Moore  had  taken  the  chair,  and  O'Conneli 

9  The  fact  seem*  to  be  that  the  Government  either  deceived  themselves 
or  *  ev<L  thoroughly  deceived  about  the  Irish  Catholics.  The  latter  sug- 
gestion seems  to  be  the  more  correct,  though  the  deceit  was  the  result  of 
their  opposition  and  not  of  guile.  The  upper  classes  of  Catholics  took  on 
UVmiselves  to  be  spokesmen  for  the  rest  They  expected  emancipation, 
and  believed  the  promises  of  Government.  The  middle  classes  were  by 
xio  means  so  sanguine,  and  judged  far  more  correctly. 


£30 


O'CONNELL'S  FIRST  SPEECH. 


was  preparing  to  speak.    He  had  a  look  at  the  resolutions, 

which  were  drawn  up  by  O'Connell  himself,  probably  his 

first  effort  in  that  direction,  but  he  could  not  find  anything 

in  them  to  condemn.    He  dashed  out  as  he  had  dashed  in, 

and  O'Connell  spoke  : — 

"  Counsellor  O'Connell  rose,  and  in  a  short  speech  prefaced  the 
resolutions.  He  said  that  the  question  of  Union  was  confessedly 
one  of  the  first  importance  and  magnitude.  Sunk,  indeed,  in 
more  than  criminal  apathy,  must  that  Irishman  be,  who  could  feel 
indifference  on  the  subject.  It  was  a  measure,  to  the  considera- 
tion of  which  we  were  called  by  every  illumination  of  the  under- 
standing, and  every  feejing  of  the  heart.  There  was,  therefore, 
no  necessity  to  apologise  for  the  introducing  the  discussion  of  the 
question  amongst  Irishmen.  But  before  he  brought  forward  any 
resolution,  he  craved  permission  to  make  a  few  observations  on 
the  causes  which  produced  the  necessity  of  meeting  as  Catholics 
— as  a  separate  and  distinct  body.  In  doing  so,  he  thought  he 
would  clearly  show  that  they  were  justifiable  in  at  length  deviat- 
ing from  a  resolution  which  they  had  heretofore  formed.  The 
enlightened  mind  of  the  Catholics  had  taught  them  the  impolicy, 
the  illiberality,  and  the  injustice  of  separating  themselves  on  any 
occasion  from  the  rest  of  the  people  of  Ireland.  The  Catholics 
had  therefore  resolved,  and  they  had  wisely  resolved,  never  more 
to  appear  before  the  public  as  a  distinct  and  separate  body  ;  but 
they  did  not — they  could  not— then  foresee  the  unfortunately 
existing  circumstances  of  this  moment.  They  could  not  then  foresee 
that  they  would  be  reduced  to  the  necessity,  either  of  submitting 
to  the  disgraceful  imputation  of  approving  of  a  measure,  as  de- 
testable to  them  as  it  was  ruinous  to  their  country,  or  once  again, 
and  he  trusted  for  the  last  time,  of  coming  forward  as  a  distinct 
body. 

"There  was  no  man  present  but  was  acquainted  with  the 
industry  with  which  it  was  circulated,  that  the  Catholics  were 


APPROBATION. 


23* 


favourable  to  the  Union.  In  vain  did  multitudes  of  that  body, 
in  different  capacities,  express  their  disapprobation  of  the  mea- 
sure; in  vain  did  they  concur  with  others  of  their  fellow-subjects 
in  expressing  their  abhorrence  of  it — as  freemen  or  freeholders, 
electors  of  counties  or  inhabitants  of  cities — still  the  calumny 
was  repeated;  it  was  printed  in  journal  after  journal  ;  it  was 
published  in  pamphlet  after  pamphlet,  it  was  circulated  with 
activity  in  private  companies;  it  was  boldly  and  loudly  proclaimed 
in  public  assemblies.  How  this  clamour  was  raised,  and  how  it 
Has  supported,  was  manifest;  the  motives  of  it  were  apparent. 

P  Iu  vain  had  the  Catholics  (individually)  endeavoured  to  resist 
the  torrent.  Their  future  efforts,  as  individuals,  would  be  equally 
vain  and  fruitless  :  they  must  then  oppose  it  collectively. 

"There  was  another  reason  why  they  should  come  forward  as 
a  distinct  class — a  reason  which  he  confessed  had  made  the 
greatest  impression  upon  his  feelings.  Not  content  with  falsely 
asserting  that  the  Catholics  favoured  the  extinction  of  Ireland, 
Ibis,  their  supposed  inclination,  was  attributed  to  the  foulest 
motives — motives  which  were  most  repugnant  to  their  judgments, 
and  most  abhorrent  to  their  hearts;  it  was  said  that  the  Catholics 
were  ready  to  sell  their  country  for  a  price,  or  what  was  still  more 
depraved,  to  abandon  it  on  account  of  the  unfortunate  animosities 
which  the  wretched  temper  of  the  times  had  produced; — can  they 
remain  silent  under  so  horrible  a  calumny ']  This  calumny  was 
flung  on  the  whole  body ;  it  was  incumbent  on  the  whole  body  to 
come  forward  and  contradict  it.  Yes,  they  will  show  every  friend 
of  Ireland  that  the  Catholics  are  incapable  of  selling  their 
councry  ;  they  will  loudly  declare  that  if  their  emancipation  was 
offered  for  their  consent  to  the  measure,  even  were  emancipation 
after  the  Union  a  benefit,  they  would  reject  it  with  prompt  indig- 
nation. ( This  sentiment  met  with  approbation.)  Let  us,"  said  lie, 
"show  to  Ireland  that  we  have  nothing  in  view  but  her  good, 
nothing  in  our  hearts  but  the  desire  of  mutual  forgiveness,  mutual 
toleratiun,  and  mutual  affection;  in  fine,  let  every  man  who  feels 


232 


MARKED  APPROBATION. 


with  me  proclaim,  that  if  the  alternative  were  offered  him  of 
Union,  or  the  re-enactment  of  the  Penal  Code  in  all  its  pristine 
horrors,  that  he  would  prefer  without  hesitation  the  latter,  as  the 
lesser  and  more  sufferable  evil;  that  he  would  rather  confide  in 
the  justice  of  his  brethren  the  Protestants  of  Ireland,  who  have 
already  liberated  him,  than  lay  his  country  at  the  feet  of  foreigners. 
(Tim  sentiment  met  with  much  and  marked  approbation.)  With 
regard  to  the  Union,  so  much  had  been  said — so  much  had  been 
written — on  the  subject,  that  it  was  impossible  that  any  man 
should  not  before  now  have  formed  an  opinion  on  it.  He  would 
not  trespass  on  their  attention  in  repeating  arguments  which  they 
had  already  heard,  and  topics  which  they  had  already  considered. 
But  if  there  was  any  man  present  who  could  be  so  far  mentally 
degraded  as  to  consent  to  the  extinction  of  the  liberty,  the  constitu- 
tion, and  even  the  name  of  Ireland,  he  would  call  on  him  not  to 
leave  the  direction  and  management  of  his  commerce  and  pro- 
perty to  strangers,  over  whom  he  could  have  no  control." 

The  following  resolutions  were  then  proposed  and  passed 
unanimously : — ■ 

"  Royal  Exchange,  Dublin,  January  13th,  1800. 
"At  a  numerous  and  respectable  meeting  of  the  Eoman  Catho- 
lics of  the  city  of  Dublin,  convened  pursuant  to  public  notice, 
Ambrose  Moore,  Esq.,  in  the  chair — 

"  Eesolved — '  That  we  are  of  opinion  that  the  proposed  incor- 
porate union  of  the  legislature  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is,  in 
fact,  an  extinction  of  the  liberty  of  this  country,  which  would  be 
reduced  to  the  abject  condition  of  a  province,  surrendered  to  the 
mercy  of  the  minister  and  legislature  of  another  country,  to  be 
bound  by  their  absolute  will,  and  taxed  at  their  pleasure  by  laws, 
in  the  making  of  which  this  country  would  have  no  efficient  par- 
ticipation whatsoever.' 

"  Resolved— '  That  we  are  of  opinion  that  the  improvement  of 
Ireland  for  the  last  twenty  years,  so  rapid  beyond  example,  is  to 


RESOLUTIONS. 


233 


be  ascribed  wholly  to  the  independency  of  our  legislature,  so 
gloriously  asserted  in  the  year  1782,  by  virtue  of  our  Parliament 
co-operating  with  the  generous  recommendation  of  our  most 
gracious  and  benevolent  sovereign,  and  backed  by  the  spirit  of 
our  people,  and  so  solemnly  ratified  by  both  kingdoms  as  the  only 
true  and  permanent  foundation  of  Irish  prosperity  and  British 
connection.' 

11  Resolved — '  That  we  are  of  opinion,  that  if  that  independency 
should  ever  be  surrendered,  we  must  as  rapidly  relapse  into  our 
former  depression  and  misery  ;  and  that  Ireland  must  inevitably 
lose,  with  her  liberty,  all  that  she  has  acquired  in  wealth,  and 
industry,  and  civilisation.' 

u  Resolved — '  That  we  are  firmly  convinced,  that  the  supposed 
advantages  of  such  a  surrender  are  unreal  and  delusive,  and  can 
never  arise  in  fact:  and  that  even  if  they  should  arise,  they  would 
be  only  the  bounty  of  the  master  to  the  slave,  held  by  his  cour- 
tesy, and  resumable  at  his  pleasure/ 

"  Resolved — '  That,  having  heretofore  determined  not  to  come 
forward  any  more  in  the  distinct  character  of  Catholics,  but  to 
consider  our  claims  and  our  cause  not  as  those  of  a  sect,  but  as 
involved  in  the  general  fate  of  our  country — we  now  think  it  right, 
notwithstanding  such  determination,  to  publish  the  present  reso- 
lutions, in  order  to  undeceive  our  fellow-subjects  who  may  have 
been  led  to  believe,  by  a  false  representation,  that  we  are  capable  of 
giving  any  concurrence  whatsoever  to  so  foul  and  fatal  a  project; 
to  assure  them  we  are  incapable  of  sacrificing  our  common  coun- 
tiy  to  either  pique  or  pretension;  and  that  we  are  of  opinion, 
that  this  deadly  attack  upon  the  nation  is  the  great  call  of  nature, 
of  country,  and  posterity  upon  Irishmen  of  all  descriptions  and 
persuasions,  to  every  constitutional  and  legal  resistance ;  and 
that  we  sacredly  pledge  ourselves  to  persevere  in  obedience  to 
that  call  as  long  as  we  have  life.' 

"  Signed,  by  order,  James  Ryan,  ^ec.'' 

How  little  O'Cormell  could  have  anticipated  his  future 


LIBERALITY  BEYOND    TEE  AGE. 


wlieij  he  expressed  so  ardent  a  hope  that  this  occasion 
micvht  ])o  the  last,  as  well  as  the  first,  on  which  Catholics 
should  come  forward  publicly  as  a  body!  How  little  he 
anticipated  the  thousand  times  on  which  his  thrilling 
words  should  arouse  the  slumbering  soul  of  the  Irish  celt, 
and  animate  him  to  new  efforts  for  his  religion  and  his 
nationality !  How  little  he  anticipated  that  his  voice 
should  one  day  rouse  British  statesmen  to  consider  the 
past  and  present  wrongs  of  Ireland,  and  obtain  from  the 
manly  justice  of  the  noble-minded  amongst  them,  or  from 
the  cringing  fear  of  the  base,  the  rights  which  had  been 
bo  long  asked  and  so  long  denied. 

With  a  liberality  beyond  the  age,  he  declared  himself 
ready  to  confide  in  the  justice  of  Irish  Protestants  rather 
than  in  the  doubtful  mercies  of  English  rulers. 

It  would  be  well,  indeed,  that  those  who  accuse  O'Con- 
nell  of  exceptional  bitterness  in  his  way  of  speaking  when 
English  rule  was  in  question,  should  remember  his  early 
life — should  remember  that  he  witnessed  all  the  horrors  of 
the  rebellion,  that  he  had  personal  experience  of  all  the 
treachery  of  Government.7    He  was  precisely  at  the  age 

7  An  important  instance  of  how  the  memory  or  tradition  of  past 
wrongs  excites  men  to  seize  the  first  opportunity  of  revenge,  if  not  of 
redress,  has  occurred  in  our  own  times.  It  is  a  circumstance  which 
should  be  very  carefully  pondered  by  statesmen  who  have  the  real 
interest  of  the  whole  nation  at  heart.  It  is  a  circumstance,  as  a  sample 
of  many  other  similar  cases,  which  should  be  known  to  every  English- 
man who  wishes  to  understand  the  cause  of  "  Irish  disturbances."  "  One 


BITTER  MEMORIES. 


when  such  impressions  would  be  taken  most  vividly — 
would  be  stereotyped  upou  the  memory  most  indelibly. 
If  he  spoke  at  times  in  rude  language,  and  told  plain 
truths  in  the  plainest  words,  it  was  because  he  had  wit- 


of  the  men  who  was  shot  by  the  police  during  the  late  Fenian  outbreak 
in  Ireland,  was  a  respectable  fanner  named  Peter  Crowley.  His  history 
tells  the  motive  for  which  he  risked  and  lost  his  life.  His  grandfather 
had  been  outlawed  in  the  rebellion  of  '98.  His  uncle,  Father  Peter 
O'Neill,  had  been  imprisoned  and  flogged  most  barbarously  with  circitm- 
stanos  of  peculiar  cruelty ',  in  Cork,  in  the  year  1798.  The  memory  of 
the  insult  and  injury  done  to  a  priest,  who  was  entirely  guiltless  of  the 
crimes  with  which  he  was  charged,  left  a  legacy  of  bitterness  and  hatred 
of  Saxon  rule  in  the  whole  family,  which,  unhappily,  religion  failed  to 
eradicate.  Peter  Crowley  was  a  sober,  industrious,  steady  man,  and  his 
parish  priest,  who  attended  his  deathbed,  pronounced  his  end  4  most 
happy  and  edifying/  Three  clergymen  and  a  procession  of  young  men, 
women,  and  children,  scattering  ilowers  before  the  coffin,  and  bearing 
green  boughs,  attended  his  remains  to  the  grave.  He  was  mourned  as 
a  patriot,  who  had  loved  his  country,  not  wisely,  but  too  well  ;  and  it 
was  believed  that  his  motive  for  joining  the  Fenian  ranks  was  less  from 
a  desire  of  revenge,  which  would  have  been  sinful,  than  from  a  mis- 
taken idea  of  freeing  liis  country  from  a  repetition  of  the  cruelties  of 
'93,  and  from  her  present  grievances." 

Arthur  Young  had,  several  years  previously,  made  the  following 
sensible  observations  on  the  probable  eifects  of  the  Union  : — 

k<  In  conversation  upon  the  subject  of  a  Union  with  Great  Britain,  I 
was  informed  that  nothing  was  so  unpopular  in  Ireland  as  such  an  idea, 
and  that  the  great  objection  to  it  was  increasing  the  number  of  absen- 
tees. When  it  was  in  agitation,  twenty  peers  and  sixty  commoners 
were  talked  of  to  sit  in  the  British  Parliament,  which  would  be  the 
residence  of  eighty  of  the  best  estates  in  England.  Going  every  year  to 
England  would  by  degrees  make  them  residents  ;  they  would  educate 
their  children  there,  and  in  time  would  become  mere  absentees;  be- 
coming so,  they  would  be  unpopular  :  and  others  would  be  elected  who, 
treading  in  the  same  steps,  would  yield  the  places  still  to  others." 


236 


PERSONAL  APPEARANCE. 


Etefsed  cruel  deeds,  for  which  no  apology  was  or  could 
be  made. 

O'Connell's  personal  appearance  at  this  time  has  been 
described  somewhat  invidiously  by  Sir  Jonah  Barringtoiij 
but  the  likeness  given  of  him  at  the  head  of  the  following 
chapter  shows  that  his  appearance  must  have  been  singu- 
larly pleasing. 

The  bright,  kindly,  blue  eyes  flashed  wTith  intelligence 
and  that  dash  of  humour  which  seems  inherent  to  the 
Irish  character.  His  action  was  gentle,  but  sufficiently 
marked.  His  form  was  strong  and  muscular,  but  devoid 
of  that  portliness  which  gave  dignity  to  his  later  years. 
The  features  were  clearly  cut  and  tolerably  regular.  It  was 
not  a  handsome  face,  but  it  was  a  kindly  one,  and  scarcely 
told  all  the  power  of  mind  that  lay  hidden  within. 

However  he  may  have  disliked  Pitt  as  a  politician,  he 
admired  him  as  an  elocutionist.  Already  O'Connell  had 
so  far  anticipated  his  future  career,  as  to  take  special  pains 
with  his  address  in  public,  but  only  with  a  view  to  success 
at  the  bar.  He  did  not,  he  could  not,  have  anticipated 
how  his  voice  would  roll  thunder  tones  at  historic  Clontan 
and  Muldaghmast. 

O'Connell  spoke  thus  of  Grattan  to  Mr  Daunt:— 

"  Pitt,"  he  said,  "  had  a  grand  majestic  march  of  language,  and 
a  full  melodious  voice.  Grattan's  eloquence  was  full  of  fire,  but 
had  not  the  melody  or  dignity  of  Pitt's ;  yet  nobody  quoted  Pitt's 
sayings,  whereas,  Grattan  was  always  saying  things  that  every- 
body quoted  and  remembered.    *  I  did  not,' "  said  Mr  O'Connell, 


"A    VERY  STRANGE  BEING* 


237 


'"hear  Grattan  make  any  of  his  famous  speeches;  but  I  have 
heard  him  in  public.  He  had  great  power,  and  great  oddity — he 
almost  swept  the  ground  with  his  odd  action.' 

H  His  conversation  contained  much  humour  of  a  dry  antithetical 
kind  :  and  lie  never  relaxed  a  muscle,  whilst  his  hearers  were  con- 
vulsed with  laughter.  He  abounded  witli  anecdotes  of  the  men 
with  whom  he  politically  acted,  and  told  them  very  well  I  met 
him  at  dinner  at  the  house  of  an  uncle  of  O'Conor  Don,  and  the 
conversation  turned  on  Lord  Kingsborough,  grandfather  to  the 
■resent  Earl  of  Kingston,  a  very  strange  being,  who  married  at 
sixteen  a  cou-in  of  his  own,  aged  fifteen — used  to  dress  like  a 
roundhead  of  Cromwell's  time,  kept  his  hair  close  shorn,  and 
wore  a  plain  coat  without  a  collar.  Grattan  said  of  this  oddity, 
'He  was  the  strangest  compound  of  incongruities  I  ever  knew; 
he  combined  the  greatest  personal  independence  with  the  most 
crouching  political  servility  to  ministers  ;  he  was  the  most  religi- 
ous man,  and  the  most  profligate  ;  he  systematically  read  every 
day  a  portion  of  the  Bible,  and  marked  his  place  in  the  sacred 
volume  with  an  obscene  ballad.' 

M  1 1  dare  say,'  said  Mr  O'Connell,  after  a  pause,  'that  Grattan 
told  O'Conor  to  ask  me  to  dinner.  I  was  then  beginning  to  be 
talked  of,  and  people  like  to  see  a  young  person  who  acquires 
notoriety.' " 

O'Connell  had  a  very  high  opinion  of  Grattan's  son. 
One  day,  in  pointing  him  out  to  an  English  friend,  he 
said — 

M  That  is  Henry  Grattan,  son  of  the  great  Irish  patriot.  He 
inherits  all  his  father's  devotion  to  Ireland.  If  you  presented  a 
pistol  at  his  head,  and  if  he  were  persuaded  his  own  immediate 
death  would  secure  the  Kepeal  of  the  Union,  he  would  say,  '  In 
the  name  of  heaven,  fire  away  I'" 

The  speech  was  certainly  characteristic  of  the  man  who 
made  it. 


23H        REMINISCENCE  OF  PITT  AND  FOX. 


Speaking  of  Pitt,  O'Connell  observed— 

"  Be  struck  me  as  having  the  most  majestic  flow  of  language 
and  the  finest  voice  imaginable.  He  managed  his  voice  admir- 
ably. It  was  from  him  I  learned  to  throw  out  the  lower  tones 
at  the  close  of  my  sentences.  Most  men  either  let  their  voice 
fall  at  the  end  of  their  sentences,  or  else  force  it  into  a  shout  or 
screech.  This  is  because  they  end  with  the  upper  instead  of  the 
lower  notes.  Pitt  knew  better.  He  threw  his  voice  so  completely 
round  the  House,  that  every  syllable  he  uttered  was  distinctly 
heard  by  every  man  in  the  House." 

Mr  Daunt  inquired  if  he  had  heard  Fox  in  the  same 

debate.    He  replied- — 

"  Yes,  and  he  spoke  delightfully  ;  his  speech  was  better  than 
Pitt's.  The  forte  of  Pitt  as  an  orator  was  majestic  declamation, 
and  an  inimitable  felicity  of  praise.  The  word  he  used  was 
always  the  very  best  word  that  could  be  got  to  express  his  idea. 
The  only  man  I  ever  knew  who  approached  Pitt  in  this  particular 
excellence,  was  Charles  Kendal  Bushe,  whose  phrases  were  always 
admirably  happy."  8 

O'Connell  expressed  himself  very  strongly  on  the  subject 
of  the  Union  in  the  Report  of  the  Repeal  Association,  April 


8  O'Connell  had  a  great  dislike  to  being  shown  as  a  "  lion/'  at  public 
private  dinners.  On  such  occasions  he  rarely  spoke.  Mr  Daunt 
say?—"  I  was  once  at  a  dinner  party  in  Dublin,  when  our  host  proposed 
O'Connell' s  health  in  a  complimentary  speech,  which  he  ended  by  say- 
ing that  he  abstained  from  warmer  eulogy  through  fear  of  wounding  the 
modesty  of  his  distinguished  guest.  O'Connell  rose  to  return  thanks, 
and  commenced  his  speech  by  saying  : — 4  My  friend  has  alluded  to  my 
modesty.  Whatever  my  original  amount  of  that  quality  may  have  been, 
I  certainly  have  never  worn  any  of  it  out  by  too  frequent  use  ;  so  that 
I  have  the  whole  original  stock  quite  ready  for  service  on  the  present 
occasion.'" 


AFTER-RECORD   OF  IMPRESSIONS.  239 


1840.  This  record  of  his  impressions  after  the  lapse  of 
forty  years  is  valuable  and  important : — 

"  The  second  means  for  carrying  the  Union  were—'  the  depri- 
vation of  all  legal  protection  to  liberty  or  life — the  familiar  use  of 
torture — the  trials  by  courts-martial — the  forcible  suppression  of 
public  meetings — the  total  stifling  of  public  opinion — and  the  use 
of  armed  violence.' 

u  All  the  time  the  Union  was  under  discussion,  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  was  suspended  —  no  man  could  call  one  hour's 
liberty  his  own. 

'•All  the  time  the  Union  was  under  discussion,  COURTS-MARTIAL 
had  power  unlimited  over  life  and  limb.  Bound  by  no  definite 
form  or  charge,  nor  by  any  rule  of  evidence,  the  COURTS-MARTIAL 
threatened  with  DEATH  those  who  should  dare  to  resist  the  spoli- 
ation of  their  birthrights. 

"There  was  no  redress  for  the  most  cruel  and  tyrannical  im- 
prisonment. The  persons  of  the  kings  Irish  subjects  were  at  the 
aq/ricc  of  the  kings  ministers.  The  lives  of  the  king's  Irish  subjects 
were  at  the  sport  and  whim  of  the  boys,  young  and  old,  of  the  motley 
corps  of  English  militia,  Welsh  mountaineers,  Scotch  fcncibles,  and 
ttish  yeomanry.  At  such  a  moment  as  that,  when  the  gaols  were 
crammed  with  unaccused  victims,  and  the  scaffolds  were  reeking  with 
the  blood  of  untried  wretches — at  such  a  moment  as  that,  was  it, 
that  the  British  minister  committed  this  act  of  SPOLIATION  and 
Robbery,  which  enriched  England  but  little,  and  made  Ireland 
poor  indeed. 

"  Besides  the  suspension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  and  the 
consequent  insecurity  to  personal  liberty — besides  the  existence  of 
courts-martial,  and  the  consequent  insecurity  of  human  life  ;  be- 
sides all  these,  actual  force  was  used — meetings  of  counties,  duly 
convened  to  deliberate  on  the  measure,  were  dispersed  by  military 
force.  It  was  not  at  Maryborough  or  Clonmel  alone  that  the 
military  were  called  out — horse,  foot,  and  artillery — to  scatter,  and 
they  did  scatter,  meetings  convened  by  the  legal  authorities  to 


0 'CON NELL  IN  PERSONAL  DANGER. 


expostulate,  to  petition  against  the  Union.  Force  was  a  peculiar 
instrument  to  suppress  all  constitutional  opposition. 

"  Why  should  we  dwell  longer  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  when 
in  a  single  paragraph  we  have,  in  eloquent  language,  a  masterly 
description,  which  easily  supersedes  any  attempt  of  ours  ?  Here 
are  the  words  of  Plunket— '  I  will  be  bold  to  say,  that  licentious 
and  impious  France,  in  all  the  unrestrained  excesses  that  anarchy 
and  atheism  have  given  birth  to,  has  not  committed  a  more  insi- 
dious act  against  her  enemy,  than  is  now  attempted  by  the  pro- 
fessed champion  of  civilised  Europe  against  Ireland — a  friend  and 
ally — in  the  hour  of  her  calamity  and  distress.  At  a  moment 
when  our  country  is  filled  with  British  troops — whilst  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  is  suspended — whilst  trials  by  courts-martial  are  carry, 
ing  on  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom — while  the  people  are  made 
to  believe  that  they  have  no  right  to  meet  and  deliberate,  and 
whilst  the  people  are  palsied  by  theh?  fears — at  the  moment  when 
w«  are  distracted  by  internal  dissensions,  dissensions  kept  alive 
a?r  the  pretext  of  our  present  subjugation,  and  the  instrument  of 
one  future  thraldom, — such  is  the  time  in  which  the  Union  is 
pT'oposed.' " 

0' Council  was  in  great  personal  danger  at  this  period 
on  more  than  one  occasion.  While  doing  duty  in  the 
Volunteer  corps,  he  was  posted  as  a  sentry  near  one  of  the 
canal  bridges,  and  was  ordered  by  his  officer  to  fire  on  some 
unarmed  country  people  who  were  passing  at  the  other  side 
of  the  canal  after  the  hour  at  which  martial  law  permitted 
persons  to  be  about.  He  positively  refused  to  perform  this 
act  of  wanton  cruelty,  and  in  consequence  was  in  danger  of 
being  himself  the  victim.  On  another  occasion  he  was  one 
of  a  party  who  had  orders  to  search  a  hotel  in  James's 
Street,  for  suspected  parties  who  were  thought  to  have 


CHIVALROUS  COX  DUCT. 


241 


■rrived  there  by  the  canal  boat;  he  had  singly  to  oppose 
the  wanton  and  licentious  violence  of  his  comrades,  wh<i 
sought  to  drag  an  inoffensive  stranger  and  his  wife  from 
their  beds.    His  son  observes  :  — 

*  His  experience  in  these  sad  times  has  left  an  indelible  im- 
pression upon  him  of  the  danger  of  entrusting  civilians  with 
arms  ;  the  tendency,  in  his  own  words,  that  a  man  has,  '  when  be 
has  arms  in  his  hands,  to  be  a  ruffian.'  being  uncontrolled  by  that 
custom  of  bearing  them  under  strict  restraints  and  practices  of 
long  discipline,  which  makes  the  soldier  patient  and  forbearing. 
The  *  lawyers'  infantry*  were,  of  course,  composed  of  gentlemen. 
The  education  for  the  arduous  profession  of  the  bar  should,  one 
would  have  thought,  have  tended  to  refine  the  mind,  and  teach 
restraint  over  the  brute  impulses  ;  and  yet,  among  some,  there 
was  a  spirit  of  licence  and  outrage  prevailing,  that  the  most  reck 
less  and  disordered  soldiery  could  scarcely  equal." 

He  was  in  danger  again  in  trying  to  save  the  life  of  a 
defenceless  man  from  a  member  of  the  attorneys'  corps,  who 
was  trying  to  cut  him  down  simp'y  because  he  was  alone  and 
helpless.  O'Connell  received  the  sword  cut  on  the  barrel 
of  his  musket,  and  the  deep  indentation  which  it  made 
proved  how  fatal  the  blow  would  have  been  if  it  had  been 
received  by  the  person  for  whom  it  was  intended. 

Mr  Wagget,  afterwards  Recorder  of  Cork,  was  O'Con- 
nelFs  sergeant,  and,  happily  for  him,  happened  to  come  up 
at  the  moment.  A  few  words  explained  matters,  and  he 
at  once  look  O'Connell's  part,  but  he  only  got  rid  of  the 
attorney  by  charging  him  with  his  halbert. 

The  Union  passed,  and  the  Catholics  were  not  einanci- 

Q 


242 


APPEAL  FOR  EMANCIPATION. 


paled.  The  state  of  the  country  was  alarming.  The  har- 
vest. Lad  failed  in  the  autumn  of  1799,  yet  Mr  Pitt  would 
not  allow  any  corn  to  be  exported  to  Ireland,  until  Lord 
Cornwallis  had  made  the  most  urgent  representations  on 
the  subject.  He  wrote  to  Major-General  Ross,  stating, 
<k  that  every  Catholic  of  influence  was  in  danger."  On  the 
22d  November  1799,  he  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Portland — 

"  I  most  earnestly  hope  that  your  Grace  and  His  Majesty's 
other  confidential  servants  will  see  this  matter  in  the  same  light 
with  me,  and  that  you  will  allow  the  Roman  Catholic  peers  to 
vote  for  the  representatives  of  the  peerage,  on  their  taking  the 
same  oaths  that  are  required  from  the  electors  of  their  communion 
when  they  give  their  votes  for  members  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
I  have  had  a  most  difficult  line  to  pursue,  but  amidst  the  violence 
of  factions  and  religious  prejudices,  I  have  gone  steadily  to  my 
point,  and  I  think  I  may  now  venture  to  say  that  1  have,  in  a 
great  measure,  gained  the  confidence  and  good- will  of  the  Catho- 
lics without  losing  the  Protestants.  But  if  the  former  see  cause 
to  believe  that  1  am  disposed  to  adopt  the  ancient  system,  or  that 
I  am  a  man  of  straw,  without  weight  or  consideration,  things  will 
soon  revert  to  their  former  course,  and  I  shall,  perhaps,  be  the 
most  improper  man  to  hold  my  present  station." 

On  the  28th  November,  Lord  Castlereagh  wrote  to  the 

Duke  of  Portland-— 

"  Your  Grace  and  Mr  Pitt  will,  I  trust,  both  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  satisfying  Lord  Clare's  feelings  in  respect  to  the  line 
hereafter  to  be  pursued  towards  the  Catholics  before  he  leave* 
London.  Of  course,  no  further  hopes  will  be  held  forth  to  that 
body  by  the  Irish  Government  without  specific  directions  from  your 
Grace,  and  I  fairly  confess  I  entertain  very  great  doubts  whether 
any  more  distinct  explanation  than  has  already  been  given  would 


MINISTERIAL  DUPLICITY. 


243 


at  present  be  politically  advantageous;  it  is  enough  to  feel  assured 
that  we  are  not  suffering  them  to  form  expectations  which  must 
afterwards  be  disappointed,  under  the  disadvantage  of  having 
dexterity,  if  not  duplicity,  imputed  to  Government  in  the  con- 
duct of  the  measure." 

No  "  further  hopes"  were  held  out  because  the  work  was 
done;  but,  undoubtedly,  both  "  dexterity  "  and  "  dupli- 
city "  were  attributed  with  every  reason  to  the  English 
Government.  Ministers  were  perfectly  well  aware  that  they 
had  acted  with  "  duplicity,"  but  they  found  a  convenient 
excuse — the  king,  they  said,  would  not  hear  of  emancipa- 
tion. This  was  quite  true  ;  but  the  king  was  honest  as  well 
as  obstructive,  and  at  least  spoke  out,  and  declared  that  he 
had  not  been  a  party  to  the  promise.9 

•"The  King  to  the  Right  Hon.  Henry  Dcndas. 

"  Windsor,  February  7t/i,  1801. 
*  I  cannot  but  regret  that  on  the  late  unhappy  occasion  I  had  not 
been  treated  with  more  confidence  previous  to  forming  an  opinion, 
which,  to  my  greatest  surprise,  I  learnt  on  Thursday  from  Earl  Spencer, 
has  been  in  agitation  ever  since  Lord  Castlereagh  came  over  in  August, 
yet  of  which  I  never  had  the  smallest  suspicion  till  within  these  very 
weeks  ;  but  so  desirous  was  I  to  avoid  the  present  conclusion,  that, 
except  what  passed  with  Earl  Spencer  and  Lord  Grenville,  about  three 
weeks  past,  and  a  hint  I  gave  to  Mr  Secretary  Dundas  on  Wednesday 
•BVOmight,  I  have  been  silent  on  the  subject,  and,  indeed,  hoping  that 
Mr  Pitt  had  not  pledged  himself  on  what  I  cannot  with  my  sentiments 
of  religious  and  political  duty  think  myself  at  liberty  to  concur.  Mr 
Secretary  Dundas  has  known  my  opinions  when  he  corresponded  with 
the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  then  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  and  at 
least  will  do  me  the  justice  to  recollect  that  both  then,  and  when  after- 
wards brought  forward  by  the  Earl  Fitzwilliam,  my  language  perfectly 
coincided  with  my  present  conduct.  George  It." 


244 


SYSTEMATIC  DECEPTION, 


Lord  Castlereagh  wrote  a  "  most  private  "  letter  to  the 
Rig-Li  Honourable  William  Pitt,  on  the  1st  of  January 
1801,  in  which  he  puts  the  whole  state  of  the  case  into  the 
plainest  possible  language,  in  which  he  showed  how  abso- 
lutely necessary  the  assistance  of  the  Catholic  body  was  in 
order  to  carry  the  Union,  and  how  he  had  been  ordered  to  draw 
the  Catholics  on.  The  object  was  gained,  and  if  there 
was  not  another  document  in  existence  besides  this  letter 
to  show  how  shamefully  the  Catholics  were  duped,  it  would 
be  more  than  sufficient. 

At  last,  and  with  considerable  difficulty,  the  upper  class 
of  Catholics  were  made  to  understand  how  they  had  been 
treated.  It  might  have  been  supposed  that  they  had 
learned  a  life-long  lesson,  but  there  are  persons  on  whom 
experience  is  wasted. 

Mr  Pitt  tried  to  save  his  character  by  resigning,  being 
fully  aware  that  he  would  be  at  once  recalled  to  office, 
having  already  intimated  that  he  would  not  "  press  the 
measure  "  under  the  present  circumstances.1   The  Catholics 

1  Lord  Castlereagh  sent  the  following  letter  of  instruction  from  Lon- 
don, July  9,  1801,  to  Lord  Cornwallis  :— 

"  Mr  Pitt  will  take  the  first  opportunity  of  the  question  being  regu- 
larly before  the  House  to  state  his  opinion  at  length  upon  it,  but  ho 
does  not  think  that  it  will  be  expedient  either  with  reference  to  the 
success  of  the  question  itself,  or  the  predicament  in  which  the  King 
stands,  for  him  to  press  the  measure  under  the  present  circumstances. 
The  inclination  of  his  mind,  after  having  argued  the  question,  is,  not  to 
vote  at  all.  He  is  of  opinion  that  to  try  the  question  now,  would  only 
pledge  people  against  it  j  that  we  should  have  no  chance  of  success  iu 


P RES E XT  POLICY. 


245 


were  to  be  "  made  to  feel 99  tliat  there  were  obstacles,  or 
rather  that  tliere  was  one  obstacle  which  the  King's  min- 
isters could  not  surmount,  and  the  King's  ministers  sup- 
posed, or  believed,  or  hoped,  that  the  Catholics  would  have 
the  good  sense  to  "see  that  it  was  their  duty  to  be  thank- 
ful for  what  was  intended  to  be  done  for  them;  and  also, 
and  beyond  all,  that  they  would  not  be  so  inconsiderate 
as  to  annoy  or  embarrass  Government  in  any  way  under  the 
circumstances. 

O'Connell  joined  the  Freemasons  in  1779.  He  was  not 
aware  that  it  was  against.  Catholic  principles  for  him  to  do 
so,  and  has  given  the  following  account  of  the  matter  him- 
self :— 

4'I  was  a  Freemason  and  master  of  a  Lodge :  it  was  at  a  very 


the  Lords,  and  that  if  we  carried  it  through  both  Houses,  the  King 
would  at  all  risks  refuse  his  assent.  But  a  still  stronger  reason  operates 
in  his  mind  for  not  so  pressing  it,  which  he  particularly  desires  that  T 
may  represent  to  your  Excellency— namely,  the  conviction  that  were  the 
question  so  carried  it  would  be  deprived  of  all  its  benefits.  Under  these 
considerations,  it  is  his  wish  that  your  Excellency,  without  bringing  fur- 
ward  the  King's  name,  should  make  the  Catholics  feel  that  an  obstaclo 
which  the  King  'a  ministers  could  not  surmount,  precluded  them  from 
kinging  forward  the  measure  whilst  in  ottice  ;  that  their  attachment  to 
the  question  was  such  that  they  felt  it  impossible  to  continue  in  admini- 
stration under  the  impossibility  of  proposing  it  with  the  necessary  con- 
currence, and  that  they  retired  from  the  King's  service,  considering  this 
line  of  conduct  as  most  likely  to  contribute  to  the  ultimate  success  of 
the  measure  ;  to  represent  to  them  how  much  their  future  hopes  must 
depend  upon  strengthening  their  cause  by  good  conduct ;  in  the  mean- 
time, that  they  ought  to  weigh  their  prospects  as  arising  from  the  per- 
sons who  now  espouse  their  interests,  and  compare  them  with  thoso 


246 


0' CON  NELL  A  FREEMASON. 


early  period  of  my  life,  and  either  before  an  ecclesiastical  censure 
had  been  published  in  the  Catholic  Church  in  Ireland  prohibiting 
the  taking  of  the  Masonic  oaths,  or  at  least  before  I  was  aware  of 
that  censure.  Freemasonry  in  Ireland."  adds  O'Connell,  "  may  be 
said  to  have,  (apart  from  its  oaths)  no  evil  tendency,  save  as  far 
as  it  may  counteract  the  exertions  of  those  most  laudable  and 
useful  institutions,  the  temperance  societies.  The  important  ob- 
jection is  the  profane  taking  in  vain  the  awful  name  of  the  Deity 
in  the  wanton  and  multiplied  oaths — oaths  administered  on  the 
book  of  God — without  any  adequate  motive." 

O'ConnelPs  movements  have  not  been  very  accurately 
recorded  during  the  early  part  of  his  life,  but  it  would  appear 
that  he  visited  Darrynane  immediately  after  the  passing  of 
the  Union,  as  he  has  recorded  his  impressions  while  travel* 

which  they  could  look  to  from  any  other  quarter  They  must  dis- 
tinctly understand  that  he  could  not  concur  in  a  hopeless  attempt  at 
this  moment  to  force  it,  and  that  he  must  at  all  times  repress,  with  the 
same  decision  as  if  he  held  an  adverse  opinion,  any  unconstitutional 
conduct  in  the  Catholic  body.  This  will  give  your  Excellency  the  out- 
line of  that  communication  which  he  thinks  himself  alone  authorised 
to  make  to  them.  To  look  to  any  specific  time  to  which  they  might 
attach  their  hopes,  is  so  indefinite  and  so  delicate  a  consideration  as 
your  Excellency  will  feel  is  scarcely  to  be  touched  upon.  From  what 
has  already  passed,  the  prospect  of  a  change  of  sentiment  on  the  part  of 
the  King  seems  too  hopeless  to  be  held  out  in  promise  to  the  Catholics 
as  any  ground  of  hope,  and  his  death  is  that  solution  of  the  difficulty 
which  all  parties  must  equally  deprecate.  The  prospect  is,  therefore,  not 
very  encouraging  in  itself,  yet,  unpromising  as  it  is,  we  must  endeavour 
to  make  them  feel  that  their  particular  interests,  as  well  as  their  duty, 
will  he  best  consulted  rather  by  a  temperate  and  loyal  conduct  than  by 
giving  way  to  those  feelings  connected  with  disappointment  and  despair. 
Such  are  the  principles  we  must  practise,  and  I  wish  it  were  reason- 
able to  expect  that  they  would  be  implicitly  acted  upon."—  Cornwall* 
Correspondence,  vol.  iii.  p.  335. 


LESSON  IN  PRUDENCE. 


247 


ling  among  the  wild  mountainous  districts  between  Kenmare 

and  Killarney — 

"  The  year  of  the  Union  I  was  travelling  through  the  mountain 
district  from  Killarney  to  Kenmare — my  heart  was  heavy  at  the 
loss  that  Ireland  had  sustained,  and  the  day  was  wild  and  gloomy. 
That  desert  district,  too,  was  congenial  to  impressions  of  solemnity 
and  sadness.  There  was  not  a  human  habitation  to  be  seen  for 
many  miles ;  black,  giant  clouds  sailed  slowly  through  the  sky, 
and  rested  on  the  tops  of  the  huge  mountains ;  my  soul  felt  dreary, 
and  I  had  many  wild  and  Ossianic  inspirations  as  I  traversed  the 
bleak  solitudes. 

"  It  was  the  Union  that  first  stirred  me  up  to  come  forward  in 
politics.  My  uncle  Maurice  was  scarcely  pleased  at  my  taking  a 
public  part ;  not  that  he  approved  of  the  Union,  but  politics  ap- 
peared to  him  to  be  fraught  with  great  peril." 

O'Connell  got  some  lessons  in  prudence  during  this  event- 
ful period  which  served  him  well  in  his  after  life.  Young 
men,  who  only  knew  traditionally  of  the  terrible  scenes  in 
which  he  had  been  a  personal  actor,  reproached  him  with 
cowardice,  but  a  coward  he  never  was.  His  friend,  Mr 
Daunt,  has  faithfully  recorded  his  own  reasons  for  pru- 
dence— 

"  I  learned  from  the  example  of  the  United  Irishmen  the  lesson, 
that  in  order  to  succeed  for  Ireland,  it  was  strictly  necessary  to 
work  within  the  limits  of  the  law  and  constitution.  I  saw  that 
fraternities,  banded  illegally,  never  could  be  safe  ;  that  invariably 
some  person  without  principle  would  be  sure  to  gain  admission 
into  such  societies ;  and  either  for  ordinary  bribes,  or  else  in  times 
of  danger  for  their  own  preservation,  would  betray  their  associates. 
Yes  ;  the  United  Irishmen  taught  me  that  all  work  for  Ireland 
must  be  done  openly  and  above-board." 


248 


A  POINTED  ARGUMENT. 


We  find  O'Cormell  in  Dublin  again  in  the  winter  of  1801, 
and  dining  with  a  party  of  Freemasons  at  their  tavern  in 
Golden  Lane.  As  he  returned  home  there  was  a  cry  of 
fire,  then  a  cry  for  water  to  stop  the  devouring  flames. 
O'Connell  seized  a  pick-axe  from  an  incompetent  labourer, 
and  continued  working  with  a  will.  The  excitement  and 
the  potations  in  which  he  had  indulged  at  the  Freemasons' 
banquet  were  too  much  for  his  head.  He  worked  on,  re- 
gardless of  threats  or  entreaties,  and  would  soon  have  had  . 
the  whole  pavement  ripped  up,  had  a  soldier  not  run  a 
bayonet  at  him.  This  pointed  argument  had  its  effect,  but 
it  would  have  terminated  O'Connell's  career  abruptly, 
only  for  the  cover  of  his  hunting-watch  which  he  happened 
to  wear.  "  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  watch,"  O'Connell 
used  to  say,  when  relating  this  adventure,  "  there  would 
have  been  an  end  of  the  agitator." 

O'Conneirs  extraordinary  talents  were  soon  recognised, 
and,  though  the  pitiful  illiberal ity  of  the  times  would  not 
allow  a  Catholic  a  silk  gown,  he  could  not  complain  of 
public  neglect.  One  or  two  of  his  amusing  and  successful 
cross-examinations  got  talked  about,  and  his  professional 
fortune  was  made— 

"  O'Connell's  cross-examination  consisted  of  a  series  of  attacks 
and  retreats,  which  gradually  clouded  the  minds  of  the  judge  and 
jury  with  serious  doubts  as  to  the  witness's  credibility,  and  this 
even  when  the  witness  was  veracious.  As  a  necessary  conse- 
quence, he  became  the  favourite  lawyer  in  the  criminal  court  of 
the  Munster  circuit,  and  often  rescued  the  victim  oe  agrarian 


"LIFE   WAS  IX  BIM:' 


249 


oppression  from  the  fangs  of  law  and  the  ignominy  of  the 
gallows. 

"  O'Connell,  on  one  occasion,  was  engaged  in  a  will  case.  It 
was  the  allegation  of  the  plaintiffs  that  the  will,  by  which  con- 
lidcrable  property  had  been  devised,  was  a  forgery.  The  sub- 
scribing witnesses  swore  that  the  will  had  been  signed  by  the 
deceased  while  'life  was  in  him' — a  mode  of  expression  derived 
from  the  Irish  language,  and  which  peasants  who  have  ceased  to 
speak  Irish  still  retain.  The  evidence  was  altogether  in  favour 
of  the  will,  and  the  defendants  had  every  reason  to  calculate  on 
success,  when  O'Connell  undertook  to  cross-examine  one  of  the 
witnesses.  He  was  struck  by  the  persistency  of  this  man,  who,  in 
reply  to  his  questions,  never  deviated  from  the  formula,  1  the  life 
was  in  him.' 

"  '  On  the  virtue  of  your  oath,  was  he  alive  V 

"  '  By  the  virtue  of  my  oath,  the  life  was  in  him,'  repeated  the 
witness. 

M  1  Now  I  call  on  you  in  the  presence  of  your  Maker,  who  will 
one  day  pass  sentence  on  you  for  this  evidence  ;  I  solemnly  ask 
— and  answer  me  at  your  peril — was  there  not  a  live  fly  in  the 
dead  man's  mouth  when  his  hand  was  placed  on  the  will/ 

"The  witness  was  palsied  by  this  question;  he  trembled, 
shivered,  and  turned  pale,  and  faltered  out  an  abject  confession 
that  the  counsellor  was  right — a  fly  had  been  introduced  into  the 
mouth  of  the  deceased  to  enable  the  witnesses  to  swear  that  life 
was  in  him  ! "  1 

There  were  some  curious  scenes  in  the  law  courts  at  the 
commencement  of  the  present  century.  Men  were  not 
unfrequently  sentenced  to  death  with  a  joke,8  and  were 

2  Fagin's  Life  of  O'Connell. 

8  ""What  is  your  ca1  ling  or  occupation,  my  honest  man  ?"  said  Lord 
Norbury  to  a  witness.  "  Please  your  lordship,  I  keep  a  racket  court" 
"  So  do  7,"  rejoined  Lord  Norbury,  chuckling  in  exulting  allusion  to  the 


250 


LORD  NORBURY. 


hung  for  the  merest  suspicion.  It  was  little  wonder  that 
O'Connell's  skill  in  cross-examination  made  him  the 
favourite  of  the  multitude.  To  have  O'Connell  for  counsel 
was,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  to  secure  a  verdict  for  his 

client. 

Lord  Norbury  threw  aside  every  attempt  at  decency  in 
his  judicial  career.  He  was  the  descendant  of  a  Cromwel- 
lian  soldier,  and  had  managed,  by  considerable  talent,  not 
of  the  highest  order,  to  seat  himself  on  the  bench. 

CTConnell  has  described  him  thus  : — 

"  He  had  a  considerable  parrot-sort  of  knowledge  of  law — he 
had  upon  his  memory  an  enormous  number  of  cases,  but  he  did 
not  understand,  nor  was  he  capable  of  understanding,  a  single 
principle  of  law.  To  be  sure,  his  charges  were  the  strangest  effu- 
sions. When  charging  the  jury  in  the  action  brought  by  Guthrie 
versus  Sterne,  to  recover  damages  for  criminal  conversation  with 
the  plaintiff's  wife,  Norbury  said — '  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  The 
defendant  in  this  case  is  Henry  William  Godfrey  Baker  Sterne — 
and  there,  gentlemen,  you  have  him  from  stem  to  Sterne.  I  am 
free  to  observe,  gentlemen,  that  if  this  Mr  Henry  William  God- 
frey Baker  Sterne  had  as  many  Christian  virtues  as  he  has  Chris- 
tian names,  we  never  should  see  the  honest  gentleman  figuring 
here  as  defendant  in  an  action  for  crim.  con.'  " 


noise,  uproar,  and  racket  which  his  witticisms  constantly  awakened  in 
court. 

"When  they  were  burying  Norbury,"  added  O'Connell,  "the  grave 
was  so  deep  that  the  ropes  by  which  they  were  letting  down  the  coffin 
did  not  reach  to  the  bottom.  The  coffin  remained  hanging  at  mid-depth 
while  somebody  was  sent  for  more  rope.  'Ay,' cried  a  butcher's  ap- 
prentice, '  give  him  rope  enough.  It  would  be  a  pity  to  stint  him.  It '» 
himself  never  grudged  a  poor  man  the  rope  V  " 


BEARDING  A  JUDGE. 


251 


O'Connell  was  always  ready  to  help  his  legal  brethren. 
For  the  judges,  he  cared  very  little.  His  popularity  was 
already  established  on  the  permanent  basis  of  success,  and 
they  could  do  him  little  harm.  On  one  occasion,  when  a 
young  barrister,  named  Hartley,  rose  to  make  his  first 
motion,  he  was  constantly  and  rudely  interrupted  by  Judge 
Johnson,  his  learned  brother,  Lord  Norbury,  joining  in  the 
ill-natured  interruptions  with  his  usual  zest. 

The  young  barrister  at  last  became  hopelessly  confused. 
At  this  moment  O'Connell  entered  the  court,  ascertained 
what  was  going  on,  urgently  entreated  some  of  the  older 
members  of  the  bar  to  interfere,  but  they  were  all  unwilling. 
Lord  Norbury  was  not  a  person  to  be  bearded  with  im- 
punity. O'Connell  no  longer  hesitated  ;  whether  in  a  war  of 
words  or  swords  he  was  equally  ready  to  throw  himself 
between  the  oppressor  and  the  oppressed,  without  a  thought 
of  self.    He  addressed  the  bench  fearlessly — 

"  My  lords,  I  respectfully  submit  that  Mr  Martley  has  a  perfect 
title  to  a  full  hearing.  He  has  a  duty  to  discharge  to  his  client, 
and  should  not,  1  submit,  be  impeded  in  the  discharge  of  that  duty 
Mr  Martley  is  not  personally  known  to  me,  but  I  cannot  sit  here 
in  silence  while  a  brother-barrister  is  treated*  so  discourteously." 
"  Oh  !  Mr  O'Connell,  we  have  heard  Mr  Martley,"  said  Lord 
Norbury,  "  and  we  cannot  allow  the  time  of  the  court  to  be 
further  wasted." — "  Pardon  me,  my  lord,  you  have  not  heard  him. 
The  young  gentleman  has  not  been  allowed  to  explain  his  case — 
an  explanation  which,  I  am  quite  sure,  he  is  capable  of  giving  if 
your  lordships  will  afford  him  the  opportunity." — "  Mr  O'Con- 
nell," said  Judge  Johnson,  with  an  air  of  great  pompositv,  "  aro 


252 


A  CONFIRMED  OFFENDER. 


you  engaged  in  this  case  that  you  thus  presume  to  interfere  ?w 
— "  My  lord,  I  am  not ;  I  merely  rise  to  defend  the  privileges  of 
the  bar,  and  I  will  not  permit  them  to  be  violated  either  in  my 
own,  or  the  person  of  any  other  member  of  the  profession." 
"  Well,  well ;  well,  well,"  interposed  Lord  Norbury,  "  we  '11  hear 
Mr  Martley— we  11  hear  Mr  Martley.  Sit  down,  Mr  O'Connell ; 
sit  down." 

Having  thus  carried  his  point,  Mr  O'Connell,  in  obedience 
to  the  bench,  sat  down ;  and  Mr  Martley,  whose  gratitude  to 
O'Connell  was  sincere  and  lasting,  stated  his  case  so  satis- 
factorily as  to  obtain  his  motion. 

O'Connell  on  one  occasion  was  engaged  to  defend  a 
highwayman,  who  had  committed  robbery  on  the  public 
road  in  the  vicinity  of  Cork  ;  and,  owing  to  the  masterly 
manner  in  which  O'Connell  sifted  the  evidence  and  cross- 
examined  the  witnesses,  the  robber  was  acquitted.  The 
following  year,  on  returning  to  Cork,  O'Connell  saw  the 
same  hardened  face  resting  on  the  same  well-worn  dock, 
grim  and  ruffianly,  and  accused  of  very  nearly  the  same 
crime — burglary,  accompanied  by  an  aggravated  assault, 
which  was  proximate  to  murder.  The  culprit,  as  in  the 
former  case,  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  the  services  of 
O'Connell,  who  puzzled  the  witnesses,  perplexed  the  judge, 
and  bewildered  the  jury — owing  to  whose  hopeless  disagree- 
ment the  prisoner  was  discharged.  His  industrious  client, 
when  restored  to  liberty,  had  no  notion  of  sitting  down  in 
sluggish  idleness  :  he  stole  a  collier-brig,  sold  the  cargo, 
purchased  arms  with  the  price,  and  cruised  along  the  coast 


GRATITUDE  OF  THE  PRISOXER.  253 


in  quest  of  booty ;  and  when  O'Connell  returned  to 
Cork  he  was  once  more  in  the  dock  charged  with  piracy. 
His  defence  was  undertaken  by  O'Connell  for  the  third 
time.  O'Connell  showed  that  the  crime  did  not  come 
under  the  cognizance  of  the  court,  as  it  had  been  perpe- 
trated on  the  high  seas  ;  it  came  under  the  cognizance 
only  of  the  Admiralty.  The  gratitude  of  the  prisoner 
was  warmly  expressed — raising  his  hands  and  eyes  to 
heaven,  he  exclaimed,  "  Oh !  may  the  Lord  spare  you  to 
me!" 

CT Council  was  counsel  before  Judge  Day  on  another 
occasion,  for  a  man  who  stole  some  goats.  The  fact  was 
proved,  whereupon  O'Connell  produced  to  Judge  Day  an 
old  Act  of  Parliament,  empowering  the  owners  of  corn- 
fields, gardens,  or  plantations,  to  kill  and  destroy  all  hares, 
rabbits,  and  goats  trespassing  thereon.  O'Connell  con- 
tended that  this  legal  power  of  destruction  clearly  demon- 
strated that  goats  were  not  property,  and  thence  inferred 
that  the  stealer  of  goats  was  not  legally  a  thief,  or  punish- 
able as  such.  Judge  Day  was  so  unacquainted  with  the 
law  that  he  charged  the  jury  accordingly,  and  the  prisoner 
was  acquitted.4 

But  O'Connell's  practice  was  not  confined  to  criminal 
cases.    The  following  case  which  he  has  left  on  record 

4  However  deficient  Judge  Day  may  have  been  in  forensic  ability,  ha 
was  an  excellent  shot — and  he  knew  it.  O'Connell  used  to  call  Lord 
Korberry  u  one  of  Castlereagh's  unprincipled  janissaries. 


"A  POOR  SLOVENLY  BLOCKHEAD" 


shows  how  singularly  clear  his  mind  was,  and  how  he 
grasped  a  subject  at  once  in  all  its  bearings : — 

"  I  recollect  I  once  had  a  client,  an  unlucky  fellow,  against 
whom  a  verdict  had  been  given  for  a  balance  of  £1 1 00.  We  were 
trying  to  set  aside  that  verdict.  I  was  young  at  the  bar  at  that 
time ;  my  senior  counsel  contented  themselves  with  abusing  the 
adverse  witnesses,  detecting  flaws  in  their  evidence,  and  making 
sparkling  points;  in  short,  they  made  very  flourishing,  eloquent, 
but  rather  ineffective  speeches.  While  they  flourished  away  I  got 
our  client's  books,  and  taking  my  place  immediately  under  the 
judge's  bench,  I  opened  the  accounts  and  went  through  them  all 
from  beginning  to  end.  I  got  the  whole  drawn  out  by  double 
entry,  and  got  numbers  for  every  voucher.  The  result  plainly 
was,  that  so  far  from  there  being  a  just  balance  of  £1100  against 
our  poor  devil,  there  actually  was  a  balance  of  £700  in  his  favour, 
although  the  pooT  slovenly  blockhead  did  not  know  it  himself. 
When  my  turn  came,  I  made  the  facts  as  clear  as  possible  to  judge 
and  jury  ;  and  the  jury  inquired  if  they  could  not  find  a  verdict 
of  £700  in  his  favour.  I  just  tell  you  the  circumstance,"  continued 
O'Connell,  "  to  show  you  that  I  kept  an  eye  on  that  important 
branch  of  my  profession." 


CJapftr  Biti\. 


PUBLIC  SPIRIT  AND  POPULARITY. 

1802-1810. 

HI  CIRCUIT  —  IN  COURT  —  BAR  ANECDOTES — MARRIAGE  —  ON  GUARD  —  FRESH 
RISINGS  AND  REVENGES — CATHOLIC  CHURCH  CATHOLIC  PRIESTS  AND  PRO- 
TESTANT   CLERGY  —  MAYNOOTH — THE    VETO  POLE— WELL  ESLET  CASTLE- 

REAGH — PLAIN  SPEAKING  LOVE  OF  JUSTICE — RESOLUTION  TO  PETITION — 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION — DEMAND  FOR  ITS  REPEAL — SPEECH — PETITION — 
THE  HIERARCHY — THE  PROTESTANT  BISHOP  OF  MEATS — THE  EDINBURGH 
MVIEW — COBBLTT — LIFT  INTO  POPULARITY 


y; 


WRITE B  of  the  day  has 
left  a  most  graphic  account 
of  O'Connell  on  circuity 
from  which  we  give  the  fol- 
owing  extracts.  He  describes 
limself  as — 


"Sitting  at  the  window  of  a  village 
one  evening,  when  he  was  suddenly  aroused  by  the 


^j^p-  inn 

*  'fjj/  thundering  of  five  horses  and  a  chariot,  which  soon  ap- 
peared in  sight.  The  moment  they  arrived  at  the  inn  the 
animals  were  sharply  checked,  the  door  was  flung  open, 
and  the  occupier  hurriedly  threw  himself  out. 

"  '  Bring  out  four  horses,  instantly  ! ;  was  the  command 
he  uttered  in  the  loud  voice  of  haste  and  authority. 

"  The  inmate  of  the  carriage  was  about  five  feet  eleven 
and  a  half  inches  high,  and  wore  a  portly,  stout,  hale,  and 
agreeable  appearance.     His  shoulders  were  broad,  and  his 

R 


0' CO N N ELL  ON  CIRCUIT. 


'  ntly  built ;  and  as  he  at  that  moment  stood,  one  arm  in  his 
f  id.'  pocket,  the  other  thrust  into  a  waistcoat,  which  was  almost 
completely  unbuttoned  from  the  heat  of  the  day,  he  would  have 
made  n  good  figure  for  the  rapid  but  fine-finishing  touch  of  Harlowe. 
His  head  w.-is  covered  with  a  light  fur  cap,  which,  partly  thrown 
back,  displayed  that  breadth  of  forehead  which  I  have  never  yet 
seen  absent  from  real  talent.  His  eyes  appeared  to  me,  at  that 
iustant,  to  be  between  a  light  blue  and  a  grey  colour.  His  face  was 
pale  .nid  sallow,  as  if  the  turmoil  of  business,  the  shade  of  care,  or 
the  study  of  midnight,  had  chased  away  the  glow  of  health  and 
youth.  Around  his  mouth  played  a  cast  of  sarcasm,  which,  to  a 
quick  eye,  at  once  betrayed  satire  ;  and  it  appeared  as  if  the  lips 
could  be  easily  resolved  into  risus  sardonicus.  His  head  was 
somewhat  larger  than  that  which  a  modern  doctrine  denominates 
the  1  medium  size  :'  and  it  was  well  supported  by  a  stout  and  well- 
fcundationed  pedestal,  which  was  based  on  a  breast — full,  round, 
prominent,  and  capacious. 

;'  He  was  dressed  in  an  olive-brown  surtout,  black  trousers,  and 
black  waistcoat.  His  cravat  was  carelessly  tied — the  knot  almost 
undone  from  the  heat  of  the  day;  and  as  he  stood  with  his  hand 
across  his  bosom,  and  his  eyes  bent  on  the  ground,  he  was  the  very 
picture  of  a  public  character  hurrying  away  on  some  important 
matter  which  required  all  of  personal  exertion  and  mental  energy. 
Often  as  I  have  seen  him  since,  I  have  never  beheld  him  in  so 
Striking  or  pictorial  an  attitude. 

"  1  Quick  with  the  horses  !'  was  his  hurried  ejaculation,  as  he  re- 
covered himself  from  his  reverie  and  flung  himself  into  his  carriage. 
The  whip  was  cracked,  and  away  went  the  chariot  with  the  same 
cloud  of  dust  and  the  same  tremendous  pace. 

'*  I  did  not  see  him  pay  any  money.  He  did  not  enter  the  inn. 
He  called  for  no  refreshment,  nor  did  he  utter  a  word  to  any  person 
around  him  :  he  seemed  to  be  obeyed  by  instinct.  And  while  I 
marked  the  chariot  thundering  along  the  street,  which  had  all  its 


0' COy NELL  AXD  SERJEANT  LEFROY.  259 


then  spectators  turned  on  the  cloud-enveloped  vehicle,  my  curiosity 
was  intensely  excited,  and  I  instantly  descended  to  learn  the  name 
of  this  extraordinary  stranger. 

"Most  malapropos,  however,  were  my  inquiries.  Unfortunately 
the  landlord  was  out,  the  waiter  could  not  tell  his  name,  and  the 
hostler  4  knew  nothing  whatsoindever  of  him,  oney  lie  was  in  the 
nii;t  on  commonest  hurry.'  A  short  time,  however,  satisfied  my 
curiosity.  The  next  day  brought  me  to  the  capital  of  the  county. 
Jt  was  the  assize  time.  Very  fond  of  oratory,  I  went  to  the  court- 
house to  hear  the  forensic  eloquence  of  the  *  home  circuit.'  I  had 
scarcely  seated  myself  when  the  same  greyish  eye,  broad  forehead, 
portly  ligure,  and  strong  tone  of  voice  arrested  my  attention.  He 
was  just  on  the  moment  of  addressing  the  jury,  and  I  anxiously 
waited  to  hear  the  speech  of  a  man  who  had  already  so  strongly 
interested  me.  After  looking  at  the  judge  steadily  for  a  moment, 
he  began  his  speech  exactly  in  the  following  pronunciation — '  My 
Lurid. — Gentlemen  of  the  jury.' 

"  1  Who  speaks  ) 1  instantly  whispered  I. 

u  1  Counsellor  O'Connell,'  was  the  reply. 

"Counsel  in  a  case  in  which  his  client  was  capitally  charged. 
O'Connell  undertook  the  defence,  although  the  attorney  considered 
the  chances  as  utterly  hopeless.  O'Connell  knew  it  was  useless  to 
attempt  a  defence  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  evidence  being  more  than 
sufficient  to  insure  a  conviction.  Serjeant  Lefroy,  then  very  young, 
happened  to  preside,  in  the  absence  of  one  of  the  judges  who  had 
fallen  ill.  Knowing  the  character  of  the  judge.  O'Connell  put  a 
number  of  illegal  questions  to  the  witness,  which,  the  crown  prose- 
cutor immediately  objected  to.  The  learned  sergeant  decided  rather 
peremptorily  that  he  could  not  allow  Mr  O'Connell  to  proceed  with 
his  line  of  examination.  1  As  you  refuse  me  permission  to  defend 
my  client,  I  leave  his  fate  in  your  hands/  said  O'Connell — '  his 
blood  will  be  on  your  head  if  he  be  condemned."  O'Connell  flung 
out  of  the  court  in  apparent  displeasure,  and  paced  up  and  down  on 
the  flagway  outside  for  half-an-hour.    At  the  end  of  this  time  he  saw 


THE  HOPE  OF  CLIENTS. 


the  attorney  for  the  defence  rushing  out  in  a  great  hurry  without  his 
liil.  '  He  's  acquitted  !  he 's  acquitted  ! '  exclaimed  the  attorney,  in 
breathless  haste  and  joyous  exultation.  O'Connell  smiled  with  a 
peculiar  expression  at  the  success  of  his  stratagem — for  such  it  was. 
He  knew  that  a  judge  so  young  as  Lefroy  must  naturally  shrink  in 
horror  from  the  terrible  responsibility  of  destroying  human  life.  He 
therefore  flung  the  onus  upon  the  judge,  who,  in  the  absence  of 
O'Connell,  took  up  the  case,  and  became  unconsciously  the  advocate 
of  the  prisoner.  He  conceived  a  prejudice  in  favour  of  the  accused, 
cross  examined  the  witnesses,  and  finally  charged  the  jury  in  the 
prisoner's  favour.  The  consequence  was  the  complete  and  unexpected 
acquittal  of  the  accused.  'My  only  chance,'  said  O'Connell,  4  was 
to  throw  the  responsibility  on  the  judge,  who  had  a  natural  timidity 
of  incurring  a  responsibility  so  serious. '" 

If  O'Connell  was  the  hope  of  clients,  he  was  certainly 
the  terror  of  judges.  It  was  useless  to  attempt  to  put  a 
man  down  who,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  knew  more  law 
than  they  did,  and  whose  assurance,  right  or  wrong,  waa 
illimitable.  It  wras  scarcely  wise  to  provoke  an  encounter. 
He  was  fond  of  relating  anecdotes  of  his  bar  life,  and  as 
they  were  all  full  of  interest,  and  generally  full  of  wit  and 
humour,  his  friends  were  never  weary  of  listening  to  him. 
Fortunately  their  authenticity,  even  in  detail,  has  been 
secured  by  the  faithful  record  made  of  them  from  day  to 
day,  by  the  gentleman  who  for  many  years  accompanied 
him  in  his  journeys. 

Before  referring  to  O'ConnelPs  political  life,  we  give  a 
few  more  of  these  reminiscences  : — 

"  On  one  occasion,  O'Connell  was  asked  by  Mr  Daunt,  if  the  Irish 
bar  had  not  a  higher  reputation  for  wit  in  the  last  century  than 


BAR  AX  EC  DOTES. 


261 


the  present  ?  He  said  they  had  now  no  such  wit  as  Curran ; 
but  that  other  members  of  the  bar  participated  in  a  great  degree  in 
the  laughter-stirring  quality.    1  Holmes/  said  he,  '  has  a  great  share 

of  very  clever  sarcasm  Piunket  had  great  wit ;  he  was  a 

creature  jf  exquisite  genius.  Nothing  could  be  happier  than  his 
hit  in  reply  to  Lord  Pedesdale  about  the  kites.  In  a  speech  before 
Reuesdale,  Piunket  had  occasion  to  use  the  phrase  kites  very  fre- 
jiieut.y,  as  designating  fraudulent  bills  and  promissory  notes.  Lord 
litdesdale,  to  whom  the  phrase  was  quite  new,  at  length  interrupted 
him,  saving  :  'I  don't  quite  understand  your  meaning,  Mr  Piunket. 
la  England,  kites  are  paper  playthings  used  by  boys  ;  in  Ireland 
they  seem  to  mean  some  species  of  monetary  transaction/  '  There 
is  another  difference,  my  lord,'  said  Piunket.  'In  England,  the  wind 
raises  the  kites  ;  in  Ireland^  the  kites  raise  the  wind' 

"  Curran  was  once  defending  an  attorney's  bill  of  costs  before 
Lord  Clare.  '  Here  now,'  said  Clare,  1  is  a  flagitious  imposition  ; 
how  can  you  defend  this  item,  Mr  Curran  ? — "  To  writing  innumer- 
able letters,  £100."'  'Why,  my  lord,'  said  Curran,  'nothing  can  be 
more  reasonable.  It  is  not  a  penny  a  letter.1  And  Curran's  reply 
to  Judge  Robinson  is  exquisite  in  its  way.  '  I  '11  commit  you,  sir,' 
said  the  judge.  '  I  hope  you  '11  never  commit  a  worse  thing,  my 
lord  I1  retorted  Curran. 

M  'Wilson  Croker,  too/  said  Mr  O'Connell.  'had  humour.  When 
the  crier  wanted  to  expel  the  dwarf  O'Leary,  who  was  about  three 
feet  four  inches  high,  from  the  jury-box  in  Tralee,  Croker  Mid, 
'Let  him  stay  where  he  is — De  minimis  nan  curat  Itx"  (Law  cares 
not  for  small  things).  And  when  Tom  Goold  got  retainers  from 
both  sides,  1  Keep  them  both/  said  Croker ;  1  you  may  conscien- 
tiously do  so.  You  can  be  counsel  for  one  side,  and  of  use  to  the 
other.' 

"  Speaking  of  Judge  Day  while  he  was  yet  alive,  O'Connell  said : 
'No  man  would  take  more  pains  to  serve  a  friend  ;  but  as  a  judge 
they  cculd  scarcely  have  placed  a  less  efficient  man  upon  the  bench 
.  .  .  .  He  once  said  to  me  at  the  Cork  assizes,  *  Mr  O'Connell 


M2 


BAR  ANECDOTES. 


I  must  not  allow  you  to  make  a  speech  ;  the  fact  is,  I  am  alwayi 
of  opii  Lon  with  the  last  speaker,  and  therefore  I  will  not  let  you 
si\  one  word.'  'My  lord/  said  I,  '  that  is  precisely  the  reason  why 
J  '11  let  nobody  have  the  last  word  but  myself,  if  I  can  help  it/  I 
had  the  last  word,  and  Day  charged  in  favour  of  my  client.  Day 
was  made  judge  in  1798.  He  had  been  chairman  of  Kilmainham, 
with  a  salary  of  £1200  a-year.  When  he  got  on  the  bench,  Bullj 
Egan  got  the  chairmanship. 

"  4  Was  Bully  Egan  a  good  lawyer  V 

" '  lie  was  a  successful  one  ;  his  bullying  helped  him  through. 
He  was  a  desperate  duellist.  One  of  his  duels  was  fought  with  a 
Mr  O'Reilly,  who  fired  before  the  word  was  given  ;  the  shot  did 
not  take  effect.  '  Well,  at  any  rate,  my  honour  is  safe/  said 
O'Reilly.  'Is  it  so?'  said  Egan  ;  c  egad,  I'll  take  a  slap  at  your 
honour  for  ad  that;'  and  Egan  deliberately  held  his  pistol  pointed 
for  full  five  minutes  at  O'Reilly,  whom  he  kept  for  that  period  in 
the  agonies  of  mortal  suspense. 

'"Did  he  kill  himT 

"  1  Not  he/  replied  O'Connell  ;  *  he  couldn't  hit  a  hay-stack. 

If  courage  appertained  to  duelling,  he  certainly  possessed  it.  But 
in  everything  else  he  was  the  most  timid  man  alive.  Once  I  stated, 
in  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  that  I  had,  three  days  before,  been  in 
the  room  with  a  man  in  fever  120  miles  off.  The  instant  I  said  so, 
Egan  shuffled  away  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  court  through  pure 
fear  of  infection. 

"Judge  Day  was  a  simpleton,  but  Judge  Boyd  was  worse — he 
was  a  drunkard.  'He  was  so  fond  of  brandy,'  said  O'Connell 
4  that  he  always  kept  a  supply  of  it  in  court,  upon  the  desk  before 
him,  in  an  ink-stand  of  peculiar  make.  His  lordship  used  to  lean 
his  arm  upon  the  desk,  bob  down  his  head  and  steal  a  hurried  sip 
from  time  to  time  through  a  quill  that  lay  among  the  pens  ;  which 
manoeuvre  he  flattered  himself  escaped  observation. 

"  One  day  it  was  sought  by  counsel  to  convict  a  witness  of  having 
been  intoxicated  at  the  period  to  which  his  evidence  referred.  Mr 


BAR  ANECDOTES. 


263 


Harry  Deane  Grady  laboured  bard  upon  the  other  hand  to  show 
that  the  man  had  been  sober.  '  Come  now,  my  good  man/  said 
Judge  Boyd,  '  it  is  a  very  important  consideration;  tell  the  court 
truly,  were  yuu  drunk  or  were  you  sober  upon  that  occasion]' 

" 1  Oh,  quite  sober,  my  lord,'  broke  in  Grady,  with  a  very  signifi- 
cant look  at  the  ink-stand — '  as  sober  as  a  judge?  " 

If  O'CciiEcll  was  addicted  to  cajoling  witnesses,  he  seems 
to  have  beeii  equally  happy  in  protecting  unfledged  pro- 
fessionals. We  have  already  given  one  instance  of  his 
interference  on  their  behalf.  He  happened  to  be  in  court 
when  a  young  attorney  was  called  upon  to  make  an  admis- 
sion which  might  have  been  injurious  to  his  client.  O'Con- 
nell  at  once  stood  up  and  told  him  to  make  no  admission. 
Baron  M"  CI  eland,  who  was  trying  the  case,  asked  if  Mr 
O'Connell  had  a  brief  in  the  case.  Mr  O'Connell  had  no 
brief,  except  the  very  general  one,  of  an  ardent  desire  to 
benefit  the  whole  human  race  as  far  as  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  do  so.    He  replied  : — 

"  I  have  not,  my  lord  ;  but  I  shall  have  one  when  the  case  goes 
down  to  the  assizes." 

"When  /  was  at  the  bar,  it  was  not  my  habit  to  anticipate 
briefs." 

u  When  you  were  at  the  bar,  I  never  chose  you  for  a  model ;  and 
now  that  you  are  on  the  bench,  I  shall  not  submit  to  your  dictation." 

M  There  was  a  barrister  of  the  name  of  Parsons  at  the  bar  in  my 
earlier  practice,"  said  O'Connell,  u  who  had  a  good  deal  of  humour. 
Parsons  hated  the  whole  tribe  of  attorneys  ;  perhaps  they  had  not 
treated  him  very  well — but  his  prejudice  against  them  was  eternally 
exhibiting  itself.  One  day,  in  the  hall  of  the  Four  Courts,  an  attor- 
ney came  up  to  him  to  beg  his  subscription  towards  burying  a  brothei 


2(54 


BAR  ANECDOTES. 


attorney,  who  had  died  in  distressed  circumstances.  Parsons  took 
out  a  pound  note.  '  Oh,  Mr  Parsons/  said  the  applicant,  '  I  do  not 
want  so  much  ;  I  only  ask  a  shilling  from  each  contributor.'  £  Oh, 
take  it — take  it/  replied  Parsons;  4 1  would  most  willingly  subscribe 
money  any  day  to  put  an  attorney  underground.'  'But  really,  Mr  Par- 
Bons,  I  have  limited  myself  to  a  shilling  from  each  person.'  For 
pity's  sake,  my  good  sir,  take  the  pound — and  bury  twenty  of  them.' 

<k  One  of  the  most  curious  things  I  remember  in  my  bar  experi- 
ence," said  O'Connell,  "is  Judge  Foster's  charging  for  the  acquittal 
of  a  homicide  named  Denis  Halligan,  who  was  tried,  with  four 
others,  at  the  Limerick  assizes  many  years  ago.  Foster  totally  mis- 
took the  evidence  of  the  principal  witness  for  the  prosecution.  The 
offence  charged  was  aggravated  manslaughter,  committed  on  some 
poor  wretch,  whose  name  I  forget.  The  first  four  prisoners  were 
shown  to  be  criminally  abetting;  but  the  fifth,  Denis  Halligan,  wr.s 
proved  to  have  inflicted  the  fatal  blow.  The  evidence  of  the 
principal  witness  against  him  was  given  in  these  words:  'I  saw 
Denis  Halligan,  my  lord  (he  that 's  in  the  dock  there),  take  a 
vacancy*  at  the  poor  soul  that's  kilt,  and  give  him  a  wipe  with  a 
clch-alpeen*  and  lay  him  clown  as  quiet  as  a  child.'  The  judge 
charged  against  the  first  four  prisoners,  and  sentenced  them  to  seven 
years'  imprisonment  each ;  then  proceeding  to  the  fifth,  the  rascal 
who  really  committed  the  homicide,  he  addressed  him  thus :  '  Denis 
Halligan,  I  have  purposely  reserved  the  consideration  of  your  case 
for  the  last.  Your  crime,  as  being  a  participator  in  the  affray,  is 
doubtless  of  a  grievous  nature  ;  yet  I  cannot  avoid  taking  into 
consideration  the  mitigating  circumstances  that  attend  it.  By  the 
-evidence  of  the  witness  it  clearly  appears  that  you  were  the  only  one 
of  the  party  who  showed  any  mercy  to  the  unfortunate  deceased. 
\ou  took  him  to  a  vacant  seat,  and  you  wiped  him  with  a  clean 
napkin,  and  (to  use  the  affecting  and  poetic  language  of  the  witness) 
you  laid  him  down  with  the  gentleness  one  shows  to  a  little  child. 
In  consideration  of  these  circumstances,  which  considerably  miti- 


6  Vacancy,  an  aim  at  an  unguarded  part.    a  Cleh-alpeon,  a  bludgeon. 


CHOICE  OF  A  WIFE. 


265 


gate  your  offence,  the  only  punishment  I  sliall  inflict  on  you  is  an 
imprisonment  of  three  weeks'  duration.'  So  Denis  Halligan  got  off 
by  Foster's  mistaking  a  vacancy  for  a  vacant  seat,  and  a  cleh-alpeen 
for  a  clean  napkin.'* 

O'Connell  married  in  the  summer  of  1S02.  His  early 
life  had  not  been  in  all  respects  a  model  of  virtue,  but  from 
this  period  his  habits  were  exemplary.  In  later  years,  he 
was  not  only  attached  to  his  religion  theoretically,  as  he 
had  always  been,  but  he  was  also  a  most  edifying  and 
practical  Catholic. 

His  bride  was  a  namesake  and  cousin  of  his  own  ;  and 
as  she  was  destitute  of  worldly  goods,  his  uncle  Maurice, 
with  characteristic  prudence,  objected  to  the  match  ;  but 
O'Connell  took  his  own  way  in  this  as  in  other  matters, 
and  he  never  regretted  his  choice.  He  used  to  speak  of  her 
affectionately,  and  perhaps  with  a  little  of  the  garrulous- 
ness  of  age  in  later  years.  It  would  appear  to  have  been 
entirely  a  love-match  ;  and  the  old  man  used  to  say,  his 
Mary  "  gave  him  thirty-five  years  of  the  purest  happiness 
that  man  ever  enjoyed." 

His  profession  made  him  independent.  During  the  first 
year  he  was  at  the  bar,  he  made  £58;  the  second  yeai, 
£150  ;  the  third  year,  £200;  and  the  fourth,  about  £300. 
From  which  time  he  advanced  rapidly,  and  made  as  much 
as  £9000  in  one  year.  Mrs  O'Connell  had  been  educated 
in  Tralee,  and  he  used  to  tell  the  following  anecdote  of  her 
childhood : — 

u  When  my  wife  was  a  little  girl,  she  was  obliged  to  pass,  on  hei 


20(5 


FONDNESS  FOR  CHILDREN. 


iray  to  school,  every  day,  under  the  arch  of  the  gaol;  and  Hands, 
fche  gaoler  of  Tralee,  a  most  gruff,  uncouth-looking  fellow,  always 
made  her  stop  and  curtsey  to  him.  She  despatched  the  curtsey 
with  all  imaginable  expedition,  and  ran  away  to  school,  to  get  out 
of  his  sight  as  fast  as  possible." 

O'Connell  took  great  delight  in  relating  the  following  of 
his  wife's  grandmother  : — 

"  It  was  my  delight  to  quiz  the  old  lady,  by  pretending  to  com- 
plain of  her  grand-daughter's  want  of  temper.  '  Madam/  said  I, 
'  Mary  would  do  very  well,  only  she  is  so  cross.'  *  Cross,  sir  ?  My 
Mary  cross  1  Sir,  you  must  have  provoked  her  very  much  !  Sir, 
you  must  yourself  be  quite  in  fault !  Sir,  my  little  girl  was  always 
the  gentlest,  sweetest  creature  born/  "  7 

O'Connell  was  very  fond  of  children,  and  used  not  un fre- 
quently to  commence  a  conversation  with  them  by  asking 
them,  if  they  knew  that  it  was  he  who  obtained  emancipa- 
tion for  them  ?  A  friend  once  spoke  to  him  about  sending 
his  little  girl  to  school;  he  replied  with  some  warmth — 

"  Oh,  no  I  never  take  the  child  from  her  mother, 
never ! " 

The  same  friend  made  an  apology  for  bringing  in  his 
children. 

"  *  Your  time  is  so  limited/  said  he  ;  '  and  I  fear  they  must  teasa 
you/ 

"  '  Your  apology/  returned  O'Connell,  1  reminds  me  of  my  friend 
Peter  Hussey,  who  was  not  remarkable  for  suavity.  *  Dan/  said 
Peter  to  me,  *  you  should  not  bring  in  your  children  after  dinner, 
it  is  a  heavy  tax  upon  the  admiration  of  the  company. 9    *  Never 

T  "  Personal  Recollections,"  by  Mr  Daunt,  voL  ii.  p.  135. 


i 


MARRIAGE. 


267 


mind,  Peter,'  said  I ;  1 1  admire  them  so  much  myself,  that  I  don't 
require  any  one  to  help  me.'" 

O'Connell's  marriage  took  place  on  the  23d  of  June 
1802.  The  ceremony  wa-*  strictly  private,  but  two  of  hia 
brothers  were  present.  It  took  place  in  Dame  Street, 
Dublin,  at  the  house  of  Miss  O'Connell's  brother-in-law, 
Mr  James  Connor.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  the 
Rev.  Mr  Finn,  then  parish  priest  of  Irishtown. 

O'Connell  still  continued  a  member  of  the  Lawyers' 
Corps,  and  his  life  must  have  been  constantly  in  danger. 
When  passing  St  James  Street,  Dublin,  he  used  to  point 
out  a  house  which  he  had  searched  in  1803.  It  was  then 
the  Grand  Canal  Hotel.  The  canals  were  then  to  Ireland 
what  the  railways  are  now,  and  at  that  period  travelling  by 
water  was  preferred  for  many  reasons. 

After  CTConnell  had  stood  sentry  for  three  successive 

nights,  Mr  Purcell  O'Gorman's  turn  came.  O'Connell 

observed  that  he  had  been  recently  ill,  and  saw  that 

exposure  to  the  night  air  would  probably  kill  him  : — 

" 1 1  shall  be  in  a  sad  predicament,'  he  said,  '  unless  you  take  my 
turn  of  duty  for  me.  If  I  refuse,  they  '11  accuse  me  of  cowardice  or 
croppyism ;  if  I  mount  guard,  it  will  be  the  death  of  me  ! '  So  I 
took  his  place,  and  thus  stood  guard  for  six  consecutive  nights. 
One  night  a  poor  boy  was  taken  up  in  Dame  Street  after  midnight ; 
he  said  in  his  defence  that  he  was  going  on  a  message  from  his 
master,  a  notary-public,  to  give  notice  for  protest  of  a  bill.  The  hour 
seemed  a  very  unlikely  one  for  such  a  purpose,  and  we  searched  hia 
person  for  treasonable  documents.  We  found  in  his  waistcoat 
pocket  a  sheet  of  paper,  on  which  were  rudely  scrawled  several  draw- 


208 


THE  REIGN  OF  TERROR. 


of  pikes.  He  turned  pale  with  f right,  and  trembled  all  over, 
but  persisted  in  the  account  he  had  given  us  of  himself.  It  was 
e  ily  tested,  and  a  party  immediately  went  to  his  master's  house  to 
make  inquiry.  His  master  confirmed  his  statement,  but  the  visitors, 
whose  suspicions  were  excited  by  the  drawing,  rigidly  searched  the 
whole  house  for  pikes — prodded  the  beds  to  try  if  there  were  any 
concealed  in  them — found  all  right,  and  returned  to  our  guard-house 
about  three  in  the  morning." 

The  reign  of  terror  in  Ireland  by  no  means  concluded 
with  the  Rebellion  of  1798.  Indeed,  recent  risings,  or  at- 
tempts at  rising,  which  took  place  soon  after,  was  a  suffi- 
cient evidence  that  no  amount  of  severity  could  put  down 
such  attempts,  however  hopeless.  Another  reminiscence  of 
this  period  was  given  thus  by  the  Liberator.  The  subject 
was  a  schoolmaster,  named  O'Connor,  who  was  hanged  in 
1797,  and  whose  head  was  left  for  many  years  over  the  gaol 
at  Naas — 

" He  made,"  said  O'Connell,  "a  wicked  speech  in  the  dock.  He 
complained  of  taxes,  and  oppressions  of  various  descriptions,  and 
then  said,  '  Before  the  flesh  decays  from  my  bones — nay,  before  my 
body  is  laid  in  the  earth,  the  avenger  of  tyranny  will  come.  The 
French  are  on  the  sea  while  I  utter  these  words ;  they  will  soon  effect 
their  short  and  easy  voyage,  and  strike  terror  and  dismay  into  the 
cruel  oppressors  of  the  Irish  people/  When  the  prisoner  concluded, 
Judge  Finuciine  commenced  his  charge,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
thus  attacked  the  politics,  predictions,  and  arguments  of  the  unhappy 
prisoner:  <  O'Connor,  you're  a  great  blockhead  for  your  pains. 
What  you  say  of  the  French  is  all  nonsense.  Don't  you  know,  you 
fool,  that  Lord  Howe  knocked  their  ships  to  smithereens  last  year  1 
And  therefore,  O'Connor,  you  shall  return  to  the  place  from  whence 
you  came,  and  you  shall  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  common 


A   CHARACTERISTIC  REPLY. 


269 


executioner,  and  you  shall  be  hanged  by  the  Oh  !  I  must  not 

forgot,  there  was  another  point  of  nonsense  in  your  speech.  You 
talked  about  the  tax  on  leather,  and  said  it  would  make  us  all  go 
barefoot  Now,  O'Connor,  I've  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  I 
have  got  a  large  estate  in  Clare,  and  there  is  not  a  tenant  upon  it 
that  hasn't  got  as  good  boots  and  shoes  as  myself.  And  therefore, 
O'Connor,  you  shall  return  to  the  place  from  whence  you  came,  and 
you  shall  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  common  executioner,  and 
you  shall  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  you  are  dead,  and  your  body 
shall  be  divided  into  quarters;  and  may  the  Lord  have  mercy  on 
your  soul.'  But  O'Connor's  reply  was  characteristic—'  If  you  are 
kind  to  your  tenants,  my  lord,  may  God  bless  you.' " 

Few  Irishmen,  indeed,  except  the  unhappy  infidel  leaders 
of  the  Rebellion,  had  died  with  words  of  anger  or  revenge 
upon  their  lips.  Their  own  lives  they  were  willing  to 
sacrifice  ;  they  only  asked  in  return  some  little  amelioration 
of  the  misery  of  those  whom  they  left  after  them.  But 
these  men  were  driven  to  deeds  of  desperation  by  a 
tyranny  worse  than  that  of  Robespierre."  8 

8  "  The  greatest  difficulty  which  I  experience  is  to  control  the  violence 
of  our  loyal  friends,  who  would,  if  I  did  not  keep  the  strictest  hand  upon 
them,  convert  the  system  of  martial  law  (which,  God  knows,  is  of  itself 
bad  enough)  into  a  more  violent  and  intolerable  tyranny  than  that  of 
Robespierre.  The  vilest  informers  are  haunted  out  from  the  prisons  to 
attack,  by  the  most  barefaced  perjury,  the  lives  of  all  who  are  suspected 
of  being,  or  of  having  been,  disaffected  ;  and,  indeed,  every  Roman 
Catholic  of  influence  is  in  great  danger.  You  will  have  seen  by  tb«  ad- 
dresses, both  in  the  north  and  south,  that  my  attempt  to  moderate  that 
violence  and  cruelty  which  has  once  driven,  and  which,  if  tolerated, 
must  again  soon  drive,  this  wretched  country  into  rebellion,  is  not  re- 
probated \y  the  voice  of  the  country,  although  it  has  appeared  so 
culpable  in  the  eyes  of  the  absentees." — Cornwallis*  Correspondence,  vol, 
II  p.  145. 


SERVILITY  AND  TIMIDITY. 


The  most  important  political  work  of  O'Connell's  early 
life  was  his  connection  with  the  Catholic  Association. 
His  earliest,  and  some  of  his  most  brilliant,  speeches  were 
made  in  connection  with  that  movement.  He  was  a  leader 
without  the  name  of  a  leader,  and  with  the  serious  disad- 
vantage of  acting  under  men  who  had  neither  his  disin- 
terestedness, his  intellect,  nor  his  patriotism. 

In  1793  the  forty-shilling  freeholders  were  permitted 
to  vote,  simply  because  they  could  swell  the  number  of 
slaves  who  enhanced  the  value  of  the  borough  held  by 
their  masters.  The  few  Irish  Catholic  peers  were  neither 
allowed  voice  nor  vote  in  electing  their  representatives. 
They  were  still  timid,  hesitating,  cautious,  thankful  for 
the  little  they  had,  and  terribly  afraid  of  losing  it  by  the 
least  effort  to  obtain  more. 

The  subjects  in  dispute  between  the  Catholic  party  and 
the  Government  were,  with  some  few  modifications  of  cir- 
cumstances, very  much  what  they  are  now.  The  Govern- 
ment, having  permitted  the  Catholic  to  educate  his  children, 
wished  to  have  the  control  of  that  education.  The  same 
battle  is  being  continued,  under  more  liberal  destinies,  at 
the  present  day  and  hour.  Protestant  statesmen  have  yet 
to  learn  that  the  Catholic  Church  does  not  change— that 
the  principles  which  she  held  in  the  first  century  are  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  those  which  she  holds  in  the  nineteenth. 
Circumstances,  of  which  she  alone  is  the  judge,  may  require 
some  alteration  in  the  application  of  these  principles,  but 


LEARNING  AXD   THE  CHURCH. 


271 


circumstances  do  not  alter  the  principles  themselves.  The 
Church  is  divinely  appointed  to  "  teach  all  nations,"  and  she 
cannot  permit  her  children  to  receive  secular  instruction, 
if  that  instruction  is  given  in  such  a  way  as  to  interfere 
with  the  Divine  teaching  which  belongs  exclusively  to 
her.  She  does  not  indeed  depreciate  or  undervalue  human 
learning;  on  the  contrary,  even  in  religious  orders,  if 
special  gifts  are  developed,  these  gifrs  are  encouraged  and 
cultivated  with  a  care  and  assiduity  of  which  the  world 
knows  hut  little,  even  while  it  obtains  the  benefit  of  its 
results.9 

•  We  give  one  or  two  instances.  In  science,  we  would  mention 
Father  Secchi,  the  eminent  Jesuit,  whose  fame  as  an  astronomer  is 
more  than  European,  whose  life  is  devoted  to  the  science  for  which  lie 
has  such  manifest  talent.  In  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  "  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters  "  were  compiled  by  a  Franciscan  friar  ; 
and  this  work  has  been  republished,  and  translated  in  eight  octavo 
volumes,  by  a  Protestant  historian,  within  the  last  few  years.  His  re- 
ligious superiors,  so  far  from  preventing  or  depreciating  his  labours,  were 
the  first  to  forward  them.  Out  of  their  poverty  they  supplied  sufficient 
funds  for  his  journeys  and  the  purchase  of  old  manuscripts  ;  while  his 
monastic  brothers  waited  on  him  and  aided  him  in  all  possible  ways,  so 
as  to  forward  and  lighten  his  labour. 

Nor  has  the  Church  failed  to  encourage  even  cloistered  nuns  in  literary 
labour,  Avhere  there  has  been  a  manifest  talent  for  such  work.  A  glance 
at  M.  Uapunloup's  "  Studious  Women "  will  give  ample  evidence  of  this. 
Of  St  Lisba  he  writes  that  St  Boniface  admired  her  on  account  of  her 
solid  learning — "  eruditionis  sapientia,"  and  that  "he  took  time,  which 
he  did  not  consider  lost,  from  his  apostolic  labours,  to  correct  her  Latin 
verses."  In  the  twelfth  century,  St  Hildegarde,  a  cloistered  nun,  and 
a  canonised  saint,  astonished  her  contemporaries  by  her  learned  eosmo 
logical  works  ;  and  in  the  sixteenth  century,  Eleanore  Cornaro  was  ad- 
mitted doctor  at  Milan,  and  died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity. 


SECULARISING   THE  PRIESTHOOD. 


The  Government,  or  should  we  not  rather  say  the  world, 
has  been  always  desirous  of  secularising  the  priesthood. 
Practically,  the  attempt  seems  abandoned  in  our  own 
;  imes,  because  the  attempt  has  been  found  simply  hopeless. 
The  priesthood  are  not  intended  to  be  secularised,  they  are 
iiii ended  to  be  a  distinct  class, — they  are  not  intended  to 
exhibit  the  manners,  or  habits,  or  customs  of  the  world. 
Yet  how  many,  and  what  futile,  efforts  have  been  made  by 
Government  to  have  seculars  and  aspirants  to  the  priest- 
hood educated  together,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  accom- 
plishing the  very  end  which  the  Church  does  not  desire  to 
accomplish. 

All  this  arises  from  one  simple  cause.  Protestants  do 
not  believe  in  a  divinely-instituted  priesthood, — they  do 
not  like  to  see  a  class  of  men  set  apart  from  their  fellows, 
in  profession,  in  habits  of  life,  and  in  exterior  being.  But 
such  a  class  has  existed  since  the  foundation  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  will  exist  to  the  end  of  time.  To  fight  against 
it,  or  against  the  circumstances  of  its  being,  is  hopeless,  and 
being  hopeless,  is  unwise. 

Amongst  liberal  Protestants,  who  are  not  irreconcilably 
prejudiced,  there  is,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  a  good- 
natured  desire  that  priests  should  be  "more  like  other 
people."  But  this  is  precisely  what  priests  are  not  in- 
tended to  be.  Such  Protestants  naturally  point  to  their 
own  clergy,  to  that  indefinable,  and  therefore  indescrib- 
able, polish  which  is  given  to  them  by  a  university  educa- 


PROTESTAXT  AND   CATHOLIC  CLERGY.  273 


tiori .  to  that  fashionable  manner  which  makes  them  undis- 
tinguishablc  from  other  gentlemen,  so  that  their  profession 
is  only  indicated  by  some  trifling  difference  of  dress,  not 
sufficient  to  mark  them  as  a  distinct  class,  just  sufficient 
to  give  a  little  appearance  of  distinction  in  position.  This 
they  accept  as  a  badge  of  office,  in  the  same  way  as  they 
accept  a  lawyer's  wig  or  gown  ;  and  they  ask,  often  with 
the  most  kindly  feeling,  why  Catholic  priests  cannot  phi}' 
the  role  of  fashionable  gentlemen  also?  The  answer  is 
simple  ;  it  is  because  Catholic  priests  are  not  intended  to 
be  in  the  world,  or  to  be  of  the  world,  as  Protestant  clergy- 
men mtist  necessarily  be. 

They  are  men  who  are  to  live  alone  and  apart  from  their 
fellows.  They  are  men  vowed  neither  to  possess  houses 
nor  lands,  wife  nor  child.  They  are  men  who  have  solemnly 
and  permanently  sacrificed  all  the  pleasures  of  life.  Blame 
them  for  this  if  you  will,  but  do  not  blame  them  for  being 
faithful  to  what  they  have  vowed. 

OTonnell  set  himself  steadfastly  against  every  attempt 
to  secularise  the  Catholic  clergy  ;  and  how  frequent  and 
how  persistent  these  attempts  were,  history  has  recorded. 
Fie  had,  as  we  have  said  before,  a  peculiar  aptitude  for 
taking  in  the  whole  bearings  of  a  case.  He  had  a  rapid 
power  of  comprehension.  Had  he  been  a  soldier,  we  sus- 
pect his  army  would  not  have  been  very  easily  defeated:  for 
be  saw  in  a  moment  what  was  weak  and  required  strength- 
ening, what  was  threatened  by  the  enemy,  no  matter  how 

s 


271         0' CO N y ELL  AND  THE  HIERARCHY. 


insidiously  it  might  be  disguised.  O'Connell  had  to  deal 
with  men  whose  perceptions  were  by  no  means  so  clear  as 
his  own,  and  who  were  incapacitated,  to  a  certain  extent, 
cither  by  position  or  education,  from  seeing  the  dangers 
which  threatened  them. 

The  Catholic  laity  of  the  upper  classes  were  only  anxious 
to  obtain  any  concession  that  might  be  offered,  and  were 
seldom  able  to  understand  that  a  concession  might  be  a 
disadvantage.  The  Government,  while  willing  to  render 
certain  concessions,  was  unwilling  to  render  them  gener- 
ously. Securities  were  demanded  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
make  the  concession  either  positively  injurious  or  simply 
useless.  The  majority  of  Catholics  looked  only  at  the  con- 
cession which  was  good  in  itself.  O'Connell  looked  at  the 
concomitant  circumstances,  which  were  sometimes  evil. 

To  the  upper  classes,  who  were  unable  to  take  his  large 
view  of  public  affairs,  he  opposed  himself  with  an  energy 
which  sometimes  bordered  on  contempt  ;  but  he  rarely 
allowed  himself  to  pass  the  line  of  decorum. 

His  position  with  the  Catholic  hierarchy  was  unfortu- 
nately very  difficult;  but  he  conducted  himself  in  their 
regard  with  a  tact  and  respectful  delicacy,  which  was  so 
perfect,  as  to  warrant  the  conclusion  that  it  arose  more 
from  his  deep  sense  of  religion,  and  his  firm  faith  in  the 
hierarchy  of  the  Church,  than  from  any  worldly  policy. 

The  two  great  subjects  of  discussion  were  the  Veto,  and 
the  arrangements  to  be  made  for  the  College  of  Maynooth. 


THE  COLLEGE  OF  MA  YNOOTH.  275 

The  College  of  Maynooth  was  founded  originally  for  the 
priesthood  ;  but  as  the  English  Government  were  extremely 
anxious  that  lay  students  should  be  admitted  also,  some 
lay  students  were  admitted.  No  sooner  was  this  accom- 
plished than  a  dispute  arose  ;  one  party  of  Protestants 
wishing  that  the  number  of  lay  students  should  be  increased, 
and  every  facility  afforded  for  their  accommodation,  the 
other  party  declaring  that  the  laity  should  not  be  admitted  at 
all.  With  these  disputes  CTConnell  had  little  connection. 
We  shall,  therefore,  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  Veto 
question,  after  giving  a  few  extracts  from  the  private  cor- 
respondence of  the  times  on  the  subject  of  Ma;,  nooth 
College.1 


1  The  Earl  of  Hard  wick  wrote  thus  to  the  Right  Hon.  Henry  Adding- 
ton  on  the  21st  Deceniher  1801  : — "  It  would  be  very  curious  if,  after 
all  that  has  passed,  Lord  Clare  should  be  attempting  to  acquire  popu- 
larity with  the  Catholics  at  the  expense  of  the  Government.  He  seems 
to  me,  with  a  great  share  of  cleverness  and  vivacity,  to  be  very  deficient 
in  consistency  and  precision  in  his  ideas  ;  for  at  the  very  moment  that 
he  is  contending  for  the  policy  of  a  mixed  education  of  lay  boys  with 
those  intended  for  the  priesthood,  he  asserts  that  it  is  the  fixed  system 
of  the  prie-ts  not  to  suffer  such  mixed  education,  and,  moreover,  cannot 
deny  the  greater  probability  of  the  lay  scholars,  under  priestly  disciplino 
and  with  priestly  associates,  becoming  monastic,  than  of  the  clerical 
pupils  acquiring  from  their  lay  schoolfellows  the  more  liberal  habits  of 
those  who  are  not  secluded  from  the  world.  In  considering  the  policy 
of  this  measure,  it  may  be  worthy  of  observation,  that  any  such  estab- 
lishment necessarily  tends  to  perpetuate  the  distinction,  which,  so  far 
as  education  is  concerned,  was  intended  to  be  done  away,  by  giving  an 
equal  admission  to  Catholic  and  Protestant  pupils  &t  Trinity  College, 
Dublin." 


B76 


THE  COLLEGE  OF  MAYNOOTH. 


There  can  he  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  object  of 
Government  in  pressing  the  Yeto  was  to  obtain  a  complete 
control  over  the  Catholic  clergy.  The  advance  was  made 
with  (lie  utmost  caution,  and  the  attempt  was  continued 
from  time  to  time  with  rare  prudence.  It  seems  little 
short  of  miraculous  that  the  Catholic  Church  should  not 
have  yielded  to  an  offer  which  looked  so  fair,  which  was 
made  with  such  an  appearance  of  good  will  and  generosity. 


Minutes  of  Conversation  between  the  Eight  Hon.  Charles  Abbot 
and  Lord  Kilwarden  at  Cork  Abbey,  Dec.  25,  1801. 

In  the  course  of  this  conversation,  which  lasted  above  an  hour,  the 
following  points  were  distinctly  stated  and  re-stated  by  Lord  Kil- 
warden : — 

1.  The  original  purpose  of  the  College  of  Maynooth  was  to  educate 
only  priests.  The  proofs  of  it  are — 1.  That  it  originated  in  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  times  which  had  revolutionised  the  Continent,  and 
rendered  the  former  places  of  educating  the  Irish  priests  (viz.,  St  Omer, 
Paris,  &c.)  unfit  and  unsafe,  and  rendered  it  desirable  to  educate  thera 
at  home. 

2.  The  speech  of  the  Minister  (Mr  Pelham),  in  opening  the  measure 
to  Parliament,  pointed  only  at  that  object. 

3.  Lord  K.,  who  was  then  Attorney-General,  and  commissioned  by 
Mr  Pelham  to  confer  with  the  Catholics,  had  no  conference  "but  with 
Dr  Troy  (titular  Archbishop  of  Dublin)  and  another  priest  ;  and  when, 
under  his  general  instructions  to  talk  with  them,  he  wished  them  to 
make  the  College  a  joint  school  for  the  laity  and  clergy,  they  would  not 
hear  of  it,  and  stated  it  to  be  prohibited  by  their  own  rules. 

•  •••«,, 
(Notes  then  follow  of  some  remarks  made  on  the  manners  of  the  stu- 
dents, which  were  not  very  complimentary  to  them.) 

4.  As  to  the  abstract  policy,  Lord  K.  would  advise  the  Crown  and 
Parliament,  with  a  view  only  to  the  present  race,  to  govern  by  a  strong 


THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  AXD   THE   VE70.  277 


Undoubtedly,  a  few  of  the  Irish  Catholic  bishops  were 
deceived  for  a  time — probably,  from  not  seeing  the  real 
drift  of  the  matter.  The  English  Catholics,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Dr  Milner,  did  their  best  to  place  this  chain  on 
the  necks  of  their  clergy. 

military  force,  and  keep  down  the  Catholics  by  the  bayonet  ;  but  with 
a  view  to  posterity  he  should  wish  to  educate  the  Protestants  and 
Catholics  together  :  and  such  was  the  object  oi'  opening  Trinity  College 
to  the  Catholics. 

5.  I  told  him  that  now  at  Trinity  College  the  Provost  informed  me 
there  were  many  sons  of  opulent  Catholics,  and  that  their  numbers  of 
this  class  in  creased 

On  the  28th  December  lS01,the  Earl  of  Clare  wrote  a  Memorandum 
on  the  original  institution  of  Maynooth,  from  which  we  give  the  follow- 
ing extract.  It  shows  that  the  Catholic  hierarchy  were  as  thoroughly 
opposed  to  uniting  lay  and  secular  education  then  as  they  are  now : — 
"After  a  pretty  long  negotiation  with  Dr  Troy,  to  which  I  submitted 
very  reluctantly  by  Lord  Cornwallis's  desire,  he  consented  to  receive  lay 
pupils-  for  education  according  to  the  original  intention  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  he  consented  also  to  oblige  the  ecclesiastical  pupils  to  contri- 
bute in  part  towards  the  expense  of  their  maintenance  and  education 
whilst  at  college.  Both  points  I  consider  to  be  essential  to  palliate  the 
mischiefs  of  this  institution.  For  I  fear  that  the  utmost  we  can  do  will 
be  to  palliate  its  mischiefs,  after  the  strange  precipitance  and  want  of 
forethought  which  has  hitherto  marked  every  stage  of  its  progress.  If 
the  Irish  priesthood  is  to  be  educated  at  a  monastery  at  Maynooth, 
secluded  from  all  intercourse  with  laymen,  I  cannot  see  what  will  bo 
gained  by  reclaiming  them  from  the  foreign  Popish  universities.  And 
if  none  but  the  lowest  ranks  in  the  community,  who  are  unable  to 
contribute  to  the  expense  of  their  maintenance  and  education,  are  re- 
ceived into  the  Irish  College,  I  cannot  see  any  one  advantage  which  can 
result  from  it.  And  I  can  see  that  it  will  give  a  weight  of  patronage 
to  some  few  Popish  ecclesiastics,  which  they  may  use  as  a  power- 
ful engine  to  annoy  the  State." — Grenville's  Coireiwondence,  voL  iiL  pp 
368-372. 


278 


0' CON  NELL  ON  THE  VETO. 


In  the  year  1899,  the  Irish  Catholic  hierarchy  passed  the 
following  resolution : — 

•'Tli at,  in  the  appointment  of  the  prelates  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion  to  vacant  sees  within  the  kingdom,  such  interference  of 
Government  as  may  enable  it  to  be  satisfied  with  the  loyalty  of  the 
person  appointed,  is  just,  and  ought  to  be  agreed  to." 

On  the  4th  of  July  1812,  O'Connell  thus  alludes  to  the 
Yeto  in  one  of  his  most  masterly  speeches : — 

"The  opposition  to  Catholic  Emancipation  has  assumed  a  new 
shape ;  bigotry  and  intolerance  have  been  put  to  the  blush,  or 
covered  with  ridicule;  everybody  laughs  at  Jack  Giffard  and  Paddy 
Duignan ;  and  their  worthy  compeer  and  colleague  in  England,  Sir 
William  Scott,  does  no  longer  venture  to  meet,  with  adverse  front, 
the  justice  of  our  cause.  He  may,  indeed,  talk  of  setting  oue 
question  at  rest ;  he  may  declaim  upon  the  moral  inferiority  of  the 
Irish  Catholics  ;  but  let  him  rest  assured  that,  so  long  as  his  children 
— if  he  has  any — so  long  as  the  swarthy  race  of  his  Scotts  are 
placed,  by  law,  on  any  superiority  to  the  Irish  Catholics,  so  long 
will  it  be  impossible  to  put  the  question  to  rest.  It  never  can — it 
never  shall — rest,  save  in  unqualified,  unconditional  Emancipation. 
As  to  the  moral  inferiority,  I  shall  not  dispute  the  point  with  him; 
but  I  trust  no  Catholic  judge  will  ever  be  found  in  this  country  with 
such  an  accommodating  disposition  as  to  decide  the  precise  same 
question  in  two  different  ways,  as  we  are  told  that  learned  gentleman 
has  done,  with  the  question  of  '  paper  blockades.'  Let  him,  I  am  sure 
I  consent,  direct  his  sapient  opposition,  in  his  present  prudent  course 
of  retarding  the  discussion  of  the  right  and  justice  of  our  claims,  by 
introducing  other  topics.  The  points  of  delay— the  resting-places 
-—are  obvious ;  and  when  the  present  are  exhausted,  I  rely  on  the 
malignity  of  our  oppressors  to  invent  new  terms  for  this  purpose. 

"  First,  there  was  the  Veto.  That,  indeed,  was  soon  put  down  by 
the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Catholic  people,  who,  besides  other 
reasons,  really  could  not  see,  in  the  actual  selection  made  by  the 


"SAXCriOXS  AXD  SECURITIES." 


279 


Irish  Government  of  persons  to  fill  the  offices  belonging  of  right  to 
them,  anything  to  tempt  them  to  confer  on  that  Government  the 
nomination  of  upwards  of  thirty  other  offices  of  emolument  and 
honour.  If  hostility  to  the  Irish  people  be  a  recognised  recommen- 
dation to  all  other  employments,  is  it  likely  that,  in  one  alone, 
virtue  and  moral  fitness  should  obtain  the  appointment  1  It  was 
too  gross  and  glaring  a  presumption  in  an  administration,  avowing 
its  abhorrence  for  everything  Irish,  to  expect  to  be  allowed  to  inter- 
fere with  the  religious  discipline  of  the  Irish  Catholic  Church. 

"  Driven  from  any  chance  of  the  Veto,  our  enemies  next  sug- 
gested 'the  arrangement,'  as  it  was  called  :  but  this  half  measure 
had  but  few  supporters.  It  was  not  sufficiently  strong  for  the  zealous 
intolerants  ;  its  advantages  were  not  so  obvious  to  the  profligate ;  it 
was  met  by  this  plain  reply — that  we  knew  of  no  real  inconvenience 
that  could  possibly  arise  from  the  present  system  of  the  government 
of  our  Church  ;  but  if  any  existed,  it  were  fitter  to  be  treated  of  by 
the  venerable  prelates  of  that  Church,  who  understood  the  subject 
best,  than  by  ministers  who  wish  to  turn  everything  into  an  engine 
of  state  policy. 

"  '  The  arrangement '  was  then  soon  forgotten,  and  now,  my  lord, 
we  have  new  terms  stated — those  are  *  sanctions  and  securities.' 
We  are  now  told  we  cannot  be  emancipated  without  *  sanctions  and 
securities.'  What  are  '  sanctions  1  *  They  are  calculated,  I  pre- 
sume, to  do  a  great  deal  of  mischief,  because  they  are  quite  unintelli- 
gible. As  to  '  securities/  indeed  I  can  understand  that  word  ;  and 
[  am  quite  ready  to  admit  that  securities  are  necessary  ;  they  are 
necessary  against  the  effects  upon  a  passive,  but  high-minded  people 
— of  continued  insult  and  prolonged  oppression.  They  are  necessary 
in  a  sinking  state  against  the  domestic  disturbances  and  organised 
disaffection  which  prevail  in  England — against  the  enormous  and 
increasing  power  of  the  enemy — against  dilapidated  resources,  ex- 
piring commerce,  depreciated  currency,  and  accumulating  expendi- 
ture— against  the  folly,  the  incapacity,  the  want  of  character  of  the 
administration — against  all  those  evils  of  which  there  is  courage  to 


280  MR    W.    WELLES  LEY  POLE. 


Bi  |  — against  that  domestic  insult,  respecting  which  it  is  prudent 
to  be  silent — against  all  these,  'securities'  are  necessary,  and  they 
are  easy  to  be  found  ;  they  are  to  be  found  in  conciliation  and  eman- 
cipation, their  rectitude  and  justice.  The  brave,  the  generous, 
the  enthusiastic  people  of  Ireland  are  ready  to  place  themselves  in 
the  breach  that  has  been  made  in  their  country  ;  they  claim  the  post 
of  honour,  that  is,  the  post  of  utmost  clanger  ;  they  are  ready  to  secure 
the  throne  and  the  constitution,  and  all  they  require  in  return  is,  to 
be  recognised  as  men  and  human  beings  in  this  their  native  land. 

"  Do  not,  then,  I  would  say  to  any  minister — do  not  presume  to 
insult  them,  by  attempting  to  treat  them  as  maniacs,  to  be  secured 
only  by  ropes  and  chains.  Alas  !  their  only  insanity  is  their  devo- 
tion to  you.  Tell  them  not  that  the  more  they  are  free,  the  less  will 
they  be  grateful ;  tell  them  not  that  the  less  you  have  to  fear  from 
their  discontent,  the  more  strictly  will  you  bind  them.  Oppress 
them  if  you  please  ;  but  hesitate  before  you  deem  it  prudent  thus  to 
insult  their  first,  their  finest  feelings." 

With  that  withering  sarcasm  of  which  he  was  especially 

a  master,  he  attacked  Mr  Wellesley  Pole,  and  the  "  classic" 

Castlereagh  : — ■ 

"  Having  disposed  of  '  Veto,  arrangement,  sanctions,  and  securi- 
ties/ there  remains  but  one  resource  for  intolerance  :  the  classic 
Castlereagh  has  struck  it  out.  It  consists  in — what  do  you  think ! 
Why  in  '  hitches/  Yes,  'hitches '  is  the  elegant  word  which  is  now 
destined  to  protract  our  degradation.  It  is  in  vain  that  our  advo- 
cates have  increased  ;  in  vain  have  our  foes  been  converted ;  in 
vain  has  William  Wellesley  Pole  become  our  warm  admirer.  Oh, 
how  beautiful  he  must  have  looked  advocating  the  Catholic  cause ! 
and  his  conversion,  too,  has  been  so  satisfactory— he  has  accounted 
for  it  upon  such  philosophic  principles.  Yes,  he  has  gravely  in- 
formed us  that  he  was  all  his  life  a  man  detesting  committees  ;  you 
might  see  by  him  that  thename  of  a  committee  discomposed  his  nerves, 
and  excited  his  most  irritable  feelings  ;  at  the  sound  of  a  committee 


WELLESLEY  AXD  CA STLEREA OR. 


281 


he  was  roused  to  madness.  Now,  the  Catholics  had  insisted  upon 
acting  by  a  committee;  the  naughty  Papists  nad  Jsed  nothing  but  pro- 
fane committees,  and,  of  course,  he  proclaimed  his  hostility.  But  iu 
proportion  as  he  disliked  committees,  so  did  he  love  and  approve  of  ag- 
gregate meetings — respectable  aggregate  meetings  !  Had  there  be  *n  a 
chamber  at  the  Castle  large  enough  for  an  aggregate  meeting,  he  would 
have  given  it.  Who  does  not  see  that  it  is  quite  right  to  doat  upon 
aggregate  meetings  and  detest  committees  by  law,  logic,  philosophy, 
and  science  of  legislation)  All  recommend  the  one  and  condemn  the 
other ;  and,  at  length,  the  Catholics  have  had  the  good  sense  to  call 
their  committee  a  board,  to  make  their  aggregate  meetings  mom 
frerpient.  They,  therefore,  deserve  Emancipation  ;  and,  with  the 
blessing  of  God,  he  (Mr  Pule)  would  confer  it  on  them  !  (Laughter 
and  cheers.) 

"  But,  seriously,  let  us  recollect  that  Wellesley  Pole  is  the  brother 
of  one  of  our  most  excellent  friends — of  Marquis  Wellesley,  who 
had  so  gloriously  exerted  himself  in  our  cause — who  had  manfully 
abandoned  one  administration  because  he  could  not  procure  our 
liberty,  and  rejected  power  under  any  other,  unless  formed  on  the 
basis  of  Emancipation  ;  and  who  had,  before  this  hour  in  which  I 
speak,  earned  another  unfading  laurel,  and  the  eternal  affection  of 
the  Irish  people,  by  his  motion  in  the  House  of  Lords.  The 
eloquence  and  zeal  and  high  character  of  that  noble  marquis,  seemed 
all  that  was  wanting  to  ensure,  at  no  remote  period,  our  success.  He 
knows  little  of  the  Irish  heart  who  imagines  that  his  disinterested 
services  will  ever  be  forgotten  ;  no,  they  are  graved  on  the  soul  of 
Irish  gratitude,  and  will  ever  live  in  the  memory  of  the  finest  people 
on  the  earth.  Lord  Castlereagh,  too,  has  declared  in  our  favour, 
with  the  prudent  reserve  of  '  the  hitches  ; '  he  is  our  friend,  and 
has  been  so  these  last  twenty  years — our  secret  friend  ;  as  he  says 
so,  upon  his  honour  as  a  gentleman,  we  are  bound  to  believe  him. 
If  it  be  a  merit  in  the  minister  of  a  great  nation  to  possess  profound 
discretion,  this  merit  Lord  Castlereagh  possesses  in  a  supereminent 
degree.    Why,  he  has  preserved  this  secret  with  the  utmost  success 


282 


THE  "HITCHES." 


Who  ever  suspected  that  be  had  such  a  secret  in  his  keeping  1  The 
whole  tenor  of  his  life,  every  action  of  his,  negatived  the  idea  of  his 
being  our  friend;  he  spoke  against  us — he  voted  against  us — ha 
wrote  and  be  published  against  us;  and  it  turns  out  now  that  he 
did  all  this  merely  to  show  how  well  he  could  keep  a  secret.  Oh, 
admirable  contriver!  oh,  most  successful  placeman!  most  discreet 
and  confidential  of  ministers!" 

He  then  proceeded  to  show  what  the  "hitches  "  were: — 

"  Our  legal  persecutors,  who  hunt  us  with  a  keenness  only  in- 
creased by  their  disappointment,  and  rendered  more  rancorous  by 
our  prospect  of  success — good  and  godly  men — are  at  this  moment 
employed  in  projecting  fresh  scenes  of  prosecution.  Every  part  of 
the  press  that  has  dared  to  be  free  will  surely  be  punished,  and 
public  spirit  and  liberality  will,  in  every  case  that  can  be  reached  by 
the  arts  of  state  persecution,  expiate  its  offence  in  a  prison.  Be- 
lieve me,  my  prophetic  fears  are  not  vain  :  I  know  the  managers 
well,  and  place  no  confidence  in  their  holy  seeming.  Again  England 
affords  another  opportunity  of  extending  the  '  hitches,'  under  the 
pretence  of  making  laws  to  prevent  rebellion  there  ;  the  adminis- 
tration will  suspend  the  'habeas  corpus,'  for  the  purpose  of  crushing 
emancipation  here  ;  and  thus  will  illustrate  the  contrast  between  the 
very  words  which  it  would  require  twelve  simpletons  to  swear  meant 
the  same  thing.  The  new  laws  occasioned  by  English  rioters  will  pass 
harmless  over  their  heads,  and  fall  only  upon  you.  It  would  be  incon- 
sistent if  Castlerengh,  the  worthy  successor  of  Clare  and  John  Foster, 
used  any  other  plan  towards  Ireland.  The  '  hitches.'  the  '  hitches/ 
plainly  mean  all  that  can  be  raised  of  venal  outcry  against  us,  and  all 
that  can  be  enacted  of  arbitrary  law,  to  prevent  onr  discussions. 

"  Still,  still  we  have  resources — we  have  rich  resources  in  those 
affectionate  sentiments  of  toleration  which  our  Irish  Protestant 
brethren  have  proudly  exhibited  during  the  present  year.  The 
Irish  Protestants  will  not  abandon  or  neglect  their  own  work  ;  it  is 
they  who  have  placed  us  on  our  present  elevation — their  support  has 


THE  AGITATORS. 


283 


rendered  the  common  cause  of  our  common  country  triumphant. 
Our  oppressors,  yielding  an  unwilling  assent  to  the  request  of  the 
Protestants  of  Ireland,  may  compensate  themselves  by  abusing  us 
in  common  ;  they  may  style  us  agitators — Mr  Canning  calls  us 
agitators  with  ulterior  views — but  those  Protestant  agitators  are  the 
best  friends  to  the  security  and  peace  of  the  country;  and  to  us, 
Popish  agitators, —  for  I  own  it,  my  lord,  I  am  an  agitator,  and  we 
solemnly  promise  to  continue  so,  until  the  period  of  unqualified 
emancipation — until  'the  simple  repeal;'  as  to  us,  agitators 
amongst  the  Catholics,  we  are  become  too  much  accustomed  to 
calumny  to  be  terrified  at  it ;  but  how  have  we  deserved  reproach 
and  obloquy  1  How  have  we  merited  calumny  ]  Of  myself,  my 
lord,  I  shall  say  nothing — I  possess  no  talents  for  the  office  ;  but 
no  man  shall  prevent  the  assertion  of  my  rigid  honesty.  I  am,  it 
is  true,  the  lowliest  of  the  agitators,  but  there  are,  amongst  them, 
men  of  first-rate  talents,  and  of  ample  fortunes,  men  of  the 
most  ancient  families  and  of  hereditary  worth,  men  of  public  spirit 
and  of  private  virtue,  and,  above  all,  men  of  persevering,  undaunted, 
and  unextinguishable  love  of  their  country,  of  their  poor,  degraded, 
insulted  country — to  that  country,  will  I  say  of  all  the  agitators, 
with  the  exception  of  my  humble  self — 

"  *  Boast,  Erin,  boast  them  tameless,  frank,  and  free.' 

"Out  of  the  hands  of  those  agitators,  however,  the  Government 
is  desirable  to  take  the  people,  and  the  Government  is  right.  Out 
of  the  sphere  of  your  influence,  my  lord,  the  people  can  never  be 
taken,  for  reasons  which,  because  you  are  present,  I  shall  not  men- 
tion, but  which  are  recognised  by  the  hearts  of  the  Irish  nation. 
(Loud  cheering.)  But  out  of  our  hands  the  people  may  easily  be 
taken.  They  are  bound  to  us  only  by  the  ties  of  mutual  sympathies. 
We  are  the  mfcre  straws  which  are  borne  upon  the  torrent  of  pubiic 
wrongs  and  public  griefs.  Hestore  their  rights  to  the  people,  con- 
ciliate the  Irish  nation — which  is  ready  to  meet  you  more  than  half- 
way— and  the  power  of  the  agitators  is  gone  in  an  instant.    I  do 


A   CURE  FOR  AGITATION. 


certainly  feel  the  alarm  expressed  at  the  agitation  of  the  question 
of  Catholic  rights  as  a  high  compliment ;  it  clearly  points  out  the 
course  we  ought  to  pursue.  Let  us  rouse  the  Irish  people,  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other  of  the  island,  in  this  constitutional  cause. 
Let  the  Catholic  combine  with  the  Protestant,  and  the  Protestant 
with  the  Catholic,  and  one  generous  exertion  sets  every  angry  feeling 
at  rest,  and  banishes,  for  ever,  dissension  and  division.  The  tempta- 
tion to  invasion  will  be  taken  away  from  the  foreign  enemy;  the 
pretext  and  the  means  of  internal  commotion  will  be  snatched  from 
the  domestic  foe  ;  our  country,  combined  in  one  great  phalanx,  will 
defy  every  assault ;  and  we  shall  have  the  happiness  of  obtaining  real 
security  by  that  course  of  conciliation  which  deserves  the  appro- 
bation of  every  sound  judgment,  and  must  ensure  the  applause  of 
every  feeling  heart, — we  shall  confer  an  honour  on  ourselves,  and 
ensure  the  safety  of  our  country.''' 

O'Connell  lias  been  called  an  "Agitator"  in  reproach; 
we  see  here  why  he  was  an  agitator  on  principle.  Long 
before  he  began  his  career  of  public  agitation,  he  showed 
the  English  Government  how  it  could  be  prevented,  or 
rather  how  it  could  be  rendered  unnecessary.  "  Restore 
their  rights  to  the  people,  conciliate  the  Irish  nation,  which 
is  ready  to  meet  you  more  than  half-way,  and  the  power 
of  the  agitator  is  gone  in  an  instant."  Had  O'Connell's 
advice  been  taken  in  the  year  1812,  we  should  not  have 
heard  of  Fenianism  in  the  year  1868.  If  England  would 
not  oblige  the  Irish  nation  to  agitate,  by  making  agitation 
virtually  a  necessary  preliminary  to  any  instalment  of 
justice,  there  would  be  more  peace  at  this  side  of  the 
Channel,  and  not  less  prosperity  at  the  other. 

In  1804  the  Catholics  met  in  Dublin  to  concert  measures 


GIVE  ME  JUSTICE. 


285 


for  obtaining  the  long-promised  justice  of  Emancipation, 
They  met  in  private  at  the  house  of  Mr  Ryan,  and  their 
proceedings  were  not  made  public,  as  the  Habeas  Corpus 
Act  was  in  force.  Another  meeting  was  held  in  1805, 
when  Lord  Fitzwilliam,  Sir  Thomas  French,  Sir  Edward 
Bellew,  Denis  Scully,  and  R.  R.  Ryan,  were  appointed  to 
present  to  Mr  Pitt  the  petition  to  Parliament  which  they 
had  agreed  on. 

The  petition  was  cautiously  worded,  with  a  terrible  fear 
of  giving  offence,  since  the  Catholics  were  long  accus- 
tomed to  the  assurance  that  either  the  matter  or  the  manner 
was  in  fault,  if  they  desired  to  express  their  claims.  It 
was  O'Connell  who  first  taught  them  a  wiser  and  more 
manly  way.  He  bid  them  ask  for  justice  as  justice.  Until 
now,  justice  to  a  Catholic  was  taken  to  be  a  favour  which 
might  or  might  not  be  granted,  or  for  which,  if  granted, 
the  recipient  should  be  perfectly  grateful  ;  for  which,  if 
refused,  he  should  meekly  acquiesce.  To  refuse  justice 
might  seem  unjust ;  the  refusal  of  a  favour  could  not  be 
looked  on  in  the  same  light. 

Until  now  the  Catholics  had  said,  in  trembling  accents, 
I  pray  of  you  to  grant  me  this  favour,  permit  me  to  wor- 
ship my  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  my  conscience, 
allow  me  to  educate  my  children,  grant  me  the  ordinary 
rights  of  a  citizen. 

But  O'Connell  thundered  out,  Give  me  justice,  I  ask 
no  more — I  shall  not  be  satisfied  with  less.    No  wonder 


A   HERO  OF  TEE  TRUE  TYPE. 


that  those  who  were  unwilling  to  do  justice  hated  the 
man  who  demanded  it. 

The  Catholic  had  hitherto  spoken  in  cautious  language, 
with  measured  accent,  in  humble  tones,  and  with  words 
of  deprecation. 

O'Connell  flung  his  words  hither  and  thither  like  a 
Norse  giant  playing  with  Scandinavian  rocks.  If  they  hit 
hard  sometimes,  it  was  because  his  aim  was  true.  If  the 
blows  were  rude,  it  was  because  he  did  not  stop  to  select 
his  missiles  very  carefully.  If  O'Connell  had  not  been  an 
Irishman,  and  had  not  been  a  Catholic, — if  instead  of  a 
little  coarseness  he  had  possessed  a  little  Cromwellian 
brutality, — men  like  Carl  vie  would  have  flung  him  up  into 
a  niche  of  fame,  would  have  honoured  him  as  a  hero,  who 
not  only  hated  shams,  but  demolished  them. 

His  was  no  one-sided  love  of  justice.  His  was  no 
affected  cry  to  humour  men  who  persecuted  one  class  of 
their  fellowr-creatures,  while  they  cried  out  for  justice  to 
another  ;  his  justice  was  universal.  No  man  has  ever  dared 
accuse  O'Connell  of  intolerance,  except  to  intolerant  indi- 
viduals. No  class  was  ever  insulted  by  his  eloquence;  no 
creed  was  ever  vexed.  He  cried  out  alike  for  the  slave  in 
America,  and  the  yet  more  cruelly  treated  serf  in  British 
India,  If  he  demanded  justice  to  Ireland,  he  also  de- 
manded justice  for  all  other  peoples  ;  and  one  of  his  most 
thrilling  appeals  to  man  to  exercise,  in  his  measure,  this  great 
attribute  of  God,  was  made  at  a  meeting  of  the  British 


MOVEMENT  AMONG   THE  CATHOLICS. 


287 


India  Society,  where  Lord  Brougham  took  the  chair,  and 
where  O'Connell  commenced  his  speech  by  exclaiming,  "  1 
am  here  to  claim  justice  for  India." 

The  meetings  of  the  Catholic?  in  Dublin  began  to  be 
regularly  reported  from  the  year  1  SOS.  On  the  19th  of 
January,  they  held  a  meeting  for  the  purpose  of  submitting 
certain  resolutions,  as  well  as  to  consider  the  propriety  of 
presenting  a  petition  to  the  Imperial  Parliament,  praying 
the  removal  of  the  disabilities  under  which  the  body  had 
so  long  and  so  patiently  laboured. 

The  Earl  of  Fingal  was  in  the  chair,  and  the  proceed- 
ings were  opened  by  Count  Dnlton,  who,  after  alluding  to 
the  accidental  absence  of  Lord  Gormanstown,  moved  a 
resolution,  expressing  anxiety  to  petition  Parliament  for  a 
repeal  of  the  Penal  Laws,  and  declaring  that  to  be  the 
"  critical  juncture  when  such  a  petition  ought,  without 
delay,  to  be  transmitted." 

John  Byrne,  Esq.,  of  Mullinahack,  seconded  the  motion, 
and  deprecated  divisions  amongst  the  Catholics. 

An  amusing  instance  of  the  way  in  which  Catholic 
divisions  arose  occurred  now.  Mr  O'Connor,  though 
u  forcibly  impressed"  with  the  "propriety  and  necessity 
for  petitioning,"  was  nevertheless  terribly  afraid  of  doing 
it,  and  begged  the  meeting  to  wait  until  Providence  should 
interfere  in  their  behalf.  He  fcrgot  that  Providence  helps 
those  who  help  themselves, 

O'Connell  replied — 


2R8 


UNION  IS  STRENGTH. 


"  Nothing  but  disunion  among  themselves  could  ever  retard  the 
Catholic  cause.  Division,  while  it  rendered  them  the  object  of  dis- 
gust to  their  friend,  would  make  them  the  scorn  and  ridicule  of 
their  enemies.  He  was  ready  to  admit  that  the  present  administra- 
tion were  personal  enemies  of  the  Catholic  cause;  yet  if  the  Catho- 
lics continue  loyal,  firm,  and  undivided,  they  had  little  to  fear  from 
the  barren  petulence  of  the  ex-advocate,  Perceval,  or  the  frothy 
declamation  of  the  poetaster,  Canning.  They  might  meet  with  equal 
contempt  the  upstart  pride  of  Jenkinson,  and  with  more  than 
contempt  the  pompous  inanity  of  that  Lord  Castlereagh,  who  might 
well  be  permitted  to  hate  the  country  that  gave  him  birth,  to  her 
own  annihilation.  He  was  also  free  to  confess  that  he  knew  of  no 
Etatute  passed  since  the  Union  which  had  for  its  object  to  increase 
the  trade  or  advance  the  liberties  of  Ireland ;  but  he  thought  it 
impossible,  if  the  Catholics  persevered,  with  undivided  efforts,  in 
their  loyal  and  dutiful  pursuit  of  emancipation,  that  any  ad  mini' 
stration  could  be  found  sufficiently  daring  in  guilt  to  stand  between 
them  and  the  throne  of  their  father  and  sovereign,  and  most  calum- 
niously  and  falsely  use  his  name  to  raise  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
good  subjects  seeking  to  become  free  citizens.  He  did,  therefore, 
conjure  the  gentlemen  to  give  up  their  opposition  ;  he  respected 
their  talents,  and  however  convinced  of  their  mistake,  could  not 
doubt  the  purity  of  their  motives.  They  must  see  that  their  argu- 
ments against  the  resolution  were  confined  to  the  ridiculous  opposi- 
tion, in  fact,  against  the  noble  lord,  for  his  having  condescended  to 
ask  advice  before  he  acted ;  and  to  the  equally  frivolous  difficulty 
objected  to,  the  form  of  the  notice  for  calling  the  meeting.  Was  it 
possible  that  rational  beings  should  govern  their  conduct  by  such 
arguments  in  the  serious  pursuit  of  freedom  1  They  were  sons,  and 
might  dearly  love  the  parents  who  gave  them  birth— let  them  recol- 
lect that  it  was  for  their  rights  that  the  petition  was  framed  :  they 
were  brothers,  and  should,  if  they  felt  the  endearing  impulses  of 
fraternal  affection,  sacrifice  party,  and,  of  course,  mere  forms  and 
teremonies,  in  a  struggle  for  obtaining  the  rights  of  their  brethren: 


RESOLUTION  TO  PETITION. 


289 


they  were  parents,  and  all  the  sweet  charities  of  life  combined  in 
favour  of  the  children  who  looked  up  to  them  for  protection.  It 
was  the  liberties  of  those  children  the  present  petition  Bought — 
would  they  postpone  for  an  hour  that  sacred  blessing?  Could  they, 
from  any  motive,  thwart  the  progress  of  those  who  sought  it  1  He 
knew  that  was  impossible,  and  he  hoped,  therefore,  there  would  be 
no  division." 

The  result  was  the  withdrawal  of  the  amendment,  and 
the  unanimous  carrying  of  a  resolution  to  petition. 

Oo  the  23d  February  1810,  the  following  letter  appeared 
in  the  Freeman's  Journal : — 

"  To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Freeman's  Journal.' 

M  SiB, — I  am  directed  by  the  Catholic  Committee  to  inform  you 
that  the  statement  contained  in  a  morning  paper  of  this  day,  re- 
specting their  proceedings,  is  extremely  inaccurate  and  erroneous  ic 
many  important  particulars,  more  especially  as  far  as  relates  to  the 
Veto.  That  question  tras  not  fixed  for  discussion,  nor  was  there 
any  determination  whatsoever  on  the  subject. 

"  I  am  also  directed  to  request  that  you  will  publish  this  letter, 
as  the  committee  consider  that  such  statement,  if  uncontradicted, 
may  be  productive  of  mischief.  —  I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

u  Daniel  O'Connell,  Acting  Sec. 

■  Crow  Street,  February  22,  1810." 

On  the  4th  May  1810,  there  was  a  meeting  of  the 
Lublin  Corporation,  to  arrange  for  a  general  meeting  on  a 
large  scale,  the  object  being  to  petition  for  the  Repeal  of 
the  Union. 

The  social,  effects  of  that  measure  wTere  beginning  to  be 
deeply  felt.  Trade  was  failing,  shops  were  closing,  the 
once  busy  streets  were  almost  deserted.     There  was  no 

T 


L>90 


SOCIAL  EFFECTS  OF  THE  UNION. 


business  done  in  Westmoreland  Street,  and  there  were 
no  "fashionables"  promenading  in  Grafton  Street.  How 
could  there  be,  when  fashion  had  fled  to  the  seat  of  fashion, 
and  trade  had  failed,  because  there  was  no  capital  to  sup- 
port it,  and  no  aristocracy  to  encourage  it  ?  2 

The  statement  that  "  four-fifths  of  the  legislature  knew 
very  little  of  the  country  except  by  misrepresentation," 
was  only  too  true ;  and,  unfortunately,  any  attempt  to 
remove  this  ignorance  was  useless. 

The  Common  Council  resolved  on  a  petition,  in  which 

2  The  following  extract  from  tlie  speech  made  by  Mr  Willis  fill  up 
the  melancholy  details  : — "  Mr  Willis  said  he  rose  under  much  difficulty, 
from  the  insidious  and  malignant  attacks  on  his  character  which  the 
House  had  just  listened  to.  He  hoped  it  would  not  prejudice  them 
against  the  motion  he  would  now  submit  to  them  on  the  measure  of  the 
Union — a  motion  so  interesting  to  every  Irishman,  that  it  stood  in  need 
of  little  apology.  He  had  no  doubt  but  Dr  Whitelaw's  pamphlet  would 
be  again  introduced,  to  show  the  prosperity  of  this  city  ;  but  he  would 
oppose  to  that  the  general  and  overwhelming  bankruptcy  with  which 
this  unfortunate  country  was  inundated.  He  asked  why  Westmoreland 
Street,  Grafton  Street,  and  every  other  trading  part  of  this  city,  exhi- 
bited such  distress — why  so  many  houses  and  shops  were  shut  1  It  is 
because  the  men  of  property,  the  fashion  of  the  country,  were  inveigled 
away  by  this  measure  to  spend  their  property  in  another  land.  He 
considered  a  union  of  the  Government  absolutely  necessary  to  support 
our  glorious  constitution,  and  the  connection  between  the  sister  islands, 
to  render  the  executive  strong  and  powerful,  to  enable  it  to  bring  into 
action  the  whole  strength  of  the  empire  ;  but  a  union  of  legislatures  he 
considered  in  a  very  different  point  of  view.  A  non-resident  legislature, 
four-fifths  of  which  knew  little  of  this  ill-fated  country  but  by  misre- 
presentation, be  they  ever  so  well  inclined  to  serve  us,  are  liable  to  im- 
position, practised  by  interested  or  designing  men.  This  had  been  the  case 
in  the  Coal  Act,  the  Paving  Act,  the  Insurrection  Act,  and  many  others." 


w 

THE  CATHOLICS  u  D  UP  E  /)."  29! 

they  declared  that  the  Union  "  had  not  increased  their 
prosperity,  comfort,  or  happiness,"  —  and  stated,  which 
could  not  be  contradicted,  that  Ireland  had  "  sutFered 
extremely  in  trade  and  commerce,"  which  was  patent  to 
all;  and,  moreover,  that  Ireland  had  not  improved  in 
"civilisation  "  or  "  manners,"  from  intercourse  with  Enir- 
land,  neither  had  the  "  discord  of  religious  sects  been 
extinguished." 

The  petitioners  asked,  as  Irishmen  will  ask  and  con- 
tinue to  ask,  for  equal  laws,  for  the  administration  of 
justice,  which  should  be  justice.  They  might  as  well  haw 
addressed  themselves  to  the  North  Wind. 

"Mr  M'Kenzie  said  he  was  obliged,  being  instructed  by  his  cor- 
poration, to  vote  for  a  petition.  He  conceived  his  instructions  did 
not  go  to  support  such  a  petition  as  the  one  now  read  ;  the  language 
was  improper — it  could  not  be  otherwise,  coining  as  it  did." 

Mr  Paterson  thought  the  petition  ;*  presumptuous," 
and  Mr  Craven  said  the  Catholics,  without  whom  the 
Union  would  never  have  been  carried,  were  "  duped." 
There  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  Union  would 
have  been  carried  without  the  Catholics,  at  the  cost  of 
another  rebellion;  but  the  promoters  of  the  plan  of  Union 
preferred  carrying  it  quietly,  so  they  duped  the  Catholics, 
which  was  easier,  if  less  honourable. 

On  the  8th  August  1810,3  the  grand  jurors  of  the  city, 


See  files  of  the  Freeman's  Journal  for  the  year  1810. 


292 


THE  NATION  AND  REPEAL. 


"viewing  the  distressed  and  deplorable  state"  of  the 
Dublin  manufactures,  and  the  "  great  gloom  and  misery" 
of  their  "  unfortunate "  country,  requested  the  high 
sheriffs  to  call  a  meeting  to  petition  for  a  Eepeal  of 
the  Union.  This  requisition  was  signed  by  150  jurymen. 
A  meeting  was  held  at  the  Koyal  Exchange  on  the  18th 
September  1810,  and  Sir  James  Riddell,  the  High  Sheriff, 
took  the  chair.  The  middle  npper  class  were  all  eager 
for  Repeal  of  the  Union ;  the  npper  class  lived  principally 
in  England,  and  so  that  they  got  their  rents,  did  not 
trouble  themselves  about  the  state  of  the  country.  If 
an  agitation  was  threatened,  or  a  tythe-proctor  carded, 
they  called  out  for,  martial  law;  they  knew  nothing  of, 
and  cared  nothing  for,  the  unhappy  people  whose  last 
farthing  was  wrung  from  them  before  they  attempted  to 
avenge  themselves. 

It  has  been  generally  believed,  or  taken  as  an  accepted 
fact,  that  Irishmen  acquiesced  generally  in  the  Union, 
that  the  agitation  in  O'Connell's  later  years,  and  at 
the  present  day,  for  repeal,  or  a  federal  government,  ia 
the  work  of  a  few  designing  politicians.  This  opinion  or 
belief  is  one  of  the  many  evil  results  of  English  ignorance 
of  Irish  history.  It  is  true  that,  for  a  year  or  so  after  the 
passing  of  the  Union,  Ireland  lay  as  one  stunned  by  a 
heavy  and  unexpected  blow ;  but  she  soon  recovered  herself, 
and  her  first  act  was,  to  protest  both  against  the  blow  and 
the  manner  in  which  the  blow  was  given.   A  glance  over  the 


"THE  EXPERIENCE   OF  TEN  YEARS."  293 


files  of  Irish  newspapers,  from  the  year  1808  to  the  present 
da)-,  will  give  ample  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion.* 
"We  shall  give  a  few  extracts  from  the  speeches  at  this 
aggregate  meeting  as  an  evidence  of  the  public  opinion  of 
the  day. 

Mr  Hutton,  who  moved  the  first  motion,  said: — 

"  Sir,  We  have  now  had  the  experience  of  ten  years,  since  the 
passing  of  the  Act  of  Union,  and  let  me  ask,  had  the  Irish  manu- 
factures had  a  fair  competition  in  the  British  markets?  Have  the 
manufactures  of  Ireland  been  protected  and  encouraged,  or  have 
those  of  Dublin  flourished,  as  we  were  promised  1  Let  me  ask,  have 
the  poor  of  the  land  had  their  education  properly  attended  to? 
Every  man  that  is  a  well-wisher  to  the  prosperity  of  Ireland  will 
answer  me  in  the  negative.  Have  the  Roman  Catholics  met  with 
any  acknowledgment  of  the  ju-tice  of  their  claims?  If  they  have, 
let  any  man  who  now  hears  me  stand  forward  and  avow  it.  On 
the  contrary,  the  Catholics,  in  their  rights,  ever  since  the  passing  of 


4  The  following  extract  from  the  Dublin  Evening  Post  of  20th  March 
1808,  is  an  evidence  of  the  opinion  advanced  above  : — 

"Repeal  of  the  Union. — The  corporation  of  skinners  and  glovers 
have  the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  come  forward  to  express  their 
sentiments  on  the  policy  and  necessity  which  exists  for  a  Repeal  of  the 
Act  of  Union.  These  worthy  and  spirited  citizens  met  yesterday,  when 
they  entered  into  resolutions  which  will  be  found  in  another  column. 
Other  corporations  are  preparing  to  follow  up  with  spirit  the  example  of 
the  skinners  and  glovers.  They  will  not  be  deterred  by  the  assertion 
that  the  effort  is  useless.  They  recollect,  that  although  it  was  proposed 
in  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  that  the  petition  from  Belfast  for  the 
repeal  of  Poyning's  law  should  be  burned  by  the  hangman  in  College 
Green,  yet,  in  less  than  seven  years  after,  the  law  was  repealed  :  they 
will  al>o  recollect  that  Lucas  was  exiled  for  supporting  those  principles, 
which  ifterwavds  procured  Grattan  the  thanks  of  his  country,  and  a 
Yote  of  fifty  thousand  pounds." 


HOW  THE   UNION   WAS  CARRIED. 


the  A.ct  of  Union,  have  stood,  and  do  stand  at  present,  just  where 
fchey  begin.  They  have  endeavoured  to  get  their  claims  acknow- 
ledged and  acquiesced  in  ;  but  are  they  not  at  this  instant  precluded 
['nun  holding  any  superior  rank  in  the  army?  I  do  not,  sir,  speak 
of  administration,  but  I  contend  that  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of 
Ireland  depend  upon  the  Repeal  of  the  Act  of  Union." 

Mr  0' Con ii ell  said — 

''The  Union  was,  therefore,  a  manifest  injustice — and  it  con- 
tinues to  be  unjust  to  this  day;  it  wTas  a  crime,  and  must  be  still 
criminal,  unless  it  shall  be  ludicrously  pretended  that  crime,  like 
wine,  improves  by  old  age,  and  that  time  mollifies  injustice  into 
innocence. 

"  Alas !  England,  that  ought  to  have  been  to  us  as  a  sister  and  a 
friend — England,  whom  we  had  loved,  and  fought  and  bled  for — 
England,  whom  we  have  protected,  and  whom  we  do  protect — 
England,  at  a  period,  when  ont  of  100,000  of  the  seamen  in  her 
service,  70,000  were  Irish — England  stole  upon  us  like  a  thief  in 
the  night,  and  robbed  us  of  the  precious  gem  of  our  Liberty ;  she 
stole  from  us  '  that  in  which  nought  enriched  her,  but  made  us  pool 
indeed.'  Reflect,  then,  my  friends,  on  the  means  employed  to  ac- 
complish this  disastrous  measure.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  meaner 
instruments  of  bribery  and  corruption — we  all  know  that  everything 
was  put  to  sale — nothing  profane  or  sacred  was  omitted  in  the 
Union  mart — offices  in  the  revenue,  commands  in  the  army  and 
navy,  the  sacred  ermine  of  justice,  and  the  holy  altars  of  God  were 
all  profaned  and  polluted  as  the  rewards  of  Union  services.  By  & 
vote  in  favour  of  the  Union,  ignorance,  incapacity,  and  profligacy 
obtained  certain  promotion—  and  our  ill-fated  but  beloved  country 
was  degraded  to  her  utmost  limits,  before  she  was  transfixed  in 
slavery.  But  I  do  not  intend  to  detain  you  in  the  contemplation 
of  those  vulgar  means  of  parliamentary  success — they  are  within  the 
daily  routine  of  official  management :  neither  will  I  direct  your  at- 
tention to  the  frightful  recollection  of  that  avowed  fact,  which  is 


THE  REAL   CAUSE   OF  THE    UXIOy.  295 


now  part  of  history,  that  the  Rebellion  itself  was  fomented  and  en- 
couraged, in  order  to  facilitate  the  Union.  Even  the  Rebellion  was 
an  accidental  and  a  secondary  cause — the  real  cause  of  the 'Union 
lay  deeper,  but  it  is  quite  obvious.  It  is  to  be  Sound  at  once  in  the 
religious  dissensions  which  the  enemies  of  Ireland  have  created,  and 
continued,  and  seek  to  perpetuate  amongst  ourselves,  by  telling  us 
of,  and  separating  us  into,  wretched  sections  and  miserable  subdi- 
visions ;  they  separated  the  Protestant  from  the  Catholic,  and  the 
Presbyterian  from  both  ;  they  revived  every  antiquated  cause  of 
domestic  animosity,  and  they  invented  new  pretexts  of  rancour;  but 
above  all,  my  countrymen,  they  belied  and  calumniated  us  to  each 
other — they  falsely  declared  that  we  hated  each  other,  and  they 
continued  to  repeat  the  assertion,  until  we  came  to  believe  it ;  they 
succeeded  in  producing  all  the  madness  of  party  and  religious  dis- 
tinctions ;  and  whilst  we  were  lost  in  the  stupor  of  insanity,  they 
plundered  us  of  our  country,  and  left  us  to  recover  at  our  leisure 
from  the  horrid  delusion  into  which  we  had  been  so  artfully  con- 
ducted. 

"Such,  then,  were  the  means  by  which  the  Union  was  effectu- 
ated. It  has  stript  us  of  commerce  and  wealth;  it  has  degraded  us, 
and  deprived  us  not  only  of  our  station  as  a  nation,  but  even  of  the 
name  of  our  country  ;  we  are  governed  by  foreigners — foreigners 
make  our  laws,  for  were  the  one  hundred  members  who  nominally 
represent  Ireland  in  uhat  is  calied  the  Imperial  Parliament,  were 
they  really  our  representatives,  what  influence  could  they,  although 
WiboUght  and  unanimous,  have  ov'er  the  five  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
Knglish  and  Scotch  members  '2  But  what  is  the  fact  ]  Why,  that 
cut  of  the  one  hundred,  such  as  they  are,  that  sit  for  this  country, 
more  than  one-fifth  know  nothing  of  us,  and  are  unknown  to  us. 
What,  for  example,  do  we  know  about  Andrew  Strahan,  printer  to 
the  king  ?  What  can  Henry  Martin,  barrister-at-law,  care  for  the 
rights  or  liberties  of  Irishmen  ]  Some  of  us  may,  perhaps,  for  our 
misfortunes,  have  been  compelled  to  read  a  verbose  pamphlet  of 
James    Stevens ;    but    who  knows  anything  of  one   Cnle,  one 


296 


"THE  THING  IS  a  mockery:' 


Hughan,  one  Cackin,  or  of  a  dozen  more  whose  names  I  could  men* 
tion,  only  because  I  have  discovered  them  for  the  purpose  of  speak- 
ing to  you  about  them;  what  sympathy  can  we,  in  our  sufferings, 
expect  from  those  men  ?  What  solicitude  for  our  interests?  What 
are  they  to  Ireland,  or  Ireland  to  them?  No,  Mr  Sheriff,  we 
are  not  represented — we  have  no  effectual  share  in  the  legislation — 
the  thing  is  a  mere  mockery;  neither  is  the  Imperial  Parliament 
competent  to  legislate  for  us — it  is  too  unwieldy  a  machine  to  legis- 
late with  discernment  for  England  alone  ;  but  with  respect  to  Ire- 
land, it  has  all  the  additional  inconvenience  that  arise  from  want  of 
interest  and  total  ignorance.  Sir,  when  I  talk  of  the  utter  ignorance, 
in  Irish  affairs,  of  the  members  of  the  Imperial  Parliament,  I  do  not 
exaggerate  or  mistake  ;  the  ministers  themselves  are  in  absolute 
darkness  with  respect  to  this  country.  I  undertake  to  demonstrate 
it.  Sir,  they  have  presumed  to  speak  of  the  growing  prosperity  of 
Ireland.  I  know  them  to  be  vile  and  profligate — I  cannot  be  sus- 
pected of  flattering  them — yet,  vile  as  they  are,  I  do  not  believe 
they  could  have  had  the  audacity  to  insert  in  the  speech,  supposed 
to  be  spoken  by  his  Majesty,  that  expression,  had  they  known  that, 
in  fact,  Ireland  was  in  abject  and  increasing  poverty." 

Then  he  appealed  to  his  audience  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gious intolerance,  a  subject  which  lie  lost  no  opportunity  of 
bringing  forward :- — 

"Who,  in  1795,  thought  a  Union  possible?  Pitt  dared  to  at- 
tempt it,  and  he  succeeded ,  it  only  requires  the  resolution  to 
attempt  its  repeal;  in  fact,  it  requires  only  to  entertain  the  hope  of 
repealing  it,  to  make  it  impossible  that  the  Union  should  continue  j 
but  that  pleasing  hope  could  never  exist  whilst  the  infernal  dissen* 
sions  on  the  score  of  religion  were  kept  up.  The  Protestant  alone 
could  not  expect  to  liberate  his  country,  the  Roman  Catholic  alone 
could  not  do  it,  neither  could  the  Presbyterian  ;  but  amalgamate  the 
three  into  the  Irishman,  and  the  Union  is  repealed.  Learn  discre- 
tion from  your  enemies;  they  have  crushed  your  country  by  foment. 


* OLD  IRELAND"  FOR  EVER! 


ing  religious  discord  ;  serve  her,  by  abandoning  it  for  ever.  Let 
each  man  give  up  his  share  of  the  mischief,  let  each  man  forsake 
every  feeling  of  rancour.  But,  I  say  not  this  to  barter  with  you, 
my  counti y men  ;  1  require  no  equivalent  from  you  ;  whatever  course 
you  shad  take,  my  mind  is  fixed  ;  I  trample  underfoot  the  Catholic 
claims,  if  they  can  interfere  with  the  repeal ;  I  abandon  all  wish  for 
emancipation,  if  it  delays  that  repeal.  Nay  ;  were  Mr  Perceval,  to- 
morrow, to  offer  me  the  Repeal  of  the  Union  upon  the  terms  of 
re-enacting  the  entire  penal  code,  1  declare  it  from  my  heart,  and 
in  the  presence  of  my  God,  that  I  would  most  cheerfully  embrace 
his  offer.  Let  us  then,  my  beloved  countrymen,  sacrifice  our  wicked 
and  groundless  animosities  on  the  altar  of  our  country;  let  that 
spirit  which,  heretofore  emanating  from  Dungannon,  spread  all  over 
the  island,  and  gave  light  and  liberty  to  the  land,  be  again  cherished 
amongst  us  ;  let  us  rally  round  the  standard  of  Old  Ireland,  and 
we  shall  easily  procure  that  greatest  of  political  blessings — an  Irish 
King,  an  Irish  House  of  Lords,  and  an  Irish  House  of  Commons." 

The  close  of  O'Connell's  speech  was  greeted  by  long  and 
continued  applause,  but  the  High  Sheriff  was  nervous. 
O'Connell  had  used  the  words  "Irish  King,"  and  no  one 
could  tell  what  construction  might  be  put  on  the  expression  ; 
therefore,  O'Connell  was  obliged  to  explain  himself,  and  to 
make  a  special  declaration  of  loyalty. 

A  declaration  and  a  petition  were  drawn  up  this  year. 
The  declaration  was  on  the  vexed  subject  of  the  Veto,  the 
petition  was  for  Repeal. 

O'Connell  drew  up  the  petition,  wrhich  ran  thus — 

u To  the  Honourable  the  Commons  of  the  United  Kingdom  o? 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  in  Parliament  assembled, 
"We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  on  behalf  of  our- 
selves and  of  others,  his  Majesty's  subjects  professing  the  Roman 


PETITION  FOR  REPEAL. 


Catholic  religion  in  Ireland,  humbly  beg  leave  to  represent  to  thia 
honourable  House — 

"That  we,  your  petitioners,  did,  in  the  years  1805  and  1808, 
humbly  petition  this  honourable  House,  praying  the  total  abolition 
of  the  penal  laws,  which  aggrieve  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 

"We  now  feel  ourselves  obliged,  in  justice  to  ourselves,  our 
families,  and  our  country,  once  more  to  solicit  the  attention  of  this 
honourable  House  to  the  subject  of  our  said  petition. 

"  We  state,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  constitute  the  most  numer- 
ous and  increasing  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  comprising 
an  immense  majority  of  the  manufacturing,  trading,  and  agricul- 
tural interests,  and  amounting  to,  at  least,  four-fifths  of  the  Irish 
population  ;  that  they  contribute  largely  to  the  exigencies  of  their 
country,  civil  and  military ;  that  they  pay  the  far  greater  part  of 
the  public  and  local  taxes;  that  they  supply  the  armies  and  navies 
of  this  empire  with  upwards  of  one-third  part  in  number  of  the 
soldiers  and  sailors  employed  in  the  public  service  ;  and  that,  not- 
withstanding heavy  discouragements,  they  form  the  principal  con- 
stituent part  of  the  strength,  wealth,  and  industry  of  Ireland. 

"  Yet  such  is  the  grievous  operation  of  the  penal  laws  of  which 
we  complain,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  are  thereby  not  only  set 
apart  from  their  fellow-subjects  as  aliens  in  their  native  land,  but 
are  ignominiously  and  rigorously  proscribed  from  almost  all  situa- 
tions of  public  trust,  honour,  or  emolument,  including  every  public 
function  and  department,  from  the  Houses  of  legislature  down  to 
the  most  petty  corporations. 

"  We  state,  that  whenever  the  labour  of  public  duty  is  to  be  ex- 
acted and  enforced,  the  Catholic  is  sought  out  and  selected  •  where 
honours  or  rewards  are  to  be  dispensed,  he  is  neglected  and  con- 
temned. 

"  Where  the  military  and  naval  strength  of  the  empire  is  to  be 
recruited,  the  Catholics  are  eagerly  solicited,  nay  compelled,  to  bear 
at  least  their  full  share  in  the  perils  of  warfare,  and  in  the  lowest 
ranks  ;  but  when  preferment  or  promotion  (the  dear  and  legitimate 


PETITIOS  FOR  REPEAL. 


299 


prize  of  successful  valour)  are  to  be  distributed  as  rewards  of  merit, 
no  laurels  are  destined  to  grace  a  Catholic's  brow,  or  fit  the  wearer 
for  command. 

"We  state,  thus  generally,  the  grievous  condition  of  the  Roman  Ca- 
tholics of  Ireland,  occasioned  solely  by  the  fatal  influence  and  opera- 
tion of  the  penal  laws  ;  and  though  we  forbear  to  enter  into  greater 
detail,  ve  t  we  do  not  the  less  trust  to  the  influence  of  reason  and  justice 
(which  eventually  must  prevail)  for  effecting  a  full  and  deliberate 
inquiry  into  our  grievances,  and  accomplishing  our  effectual  relief. 

u  We  do  beg  leave,  however,  most  solemnly,  to  press  upon  the 
attention  of  this  honourable  House,  the  imminent  public  dangers 
which  necessarily  result  from  so  inverted  an  order  of  things,  and  so 
vicious  and  unnatural  a  system  of  legislation — a  system  which  has 
long  been  the  reproach  of  this  nation,  and  is  unparalleled  throughout 
modern  Christendom. 

"And  we  state  it  as  our  fixed  opinion,  that,  to  restore  to  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  a  full,  equal,  and  unqualified  participation  of 
the  benefits  of  the  laws  and  constitution  of  England,  and  to  with- 
draw all  the  privations,  restrictions,  and  vexatious  distinctions 
which  oppress,  injure,  and  afflict  them  in  their  country,  is  now 
become  a  measure  not  merely  expedient,  but  absolutely  necessary — 
not  only  a  debt  of  right  due  to  a  complaining  people,  but  perhaps 
the  last  remaining  resource  of  this  empire,  in  the  preservation  of 
which  we  take  so  deep  an  interest. 

"  We  therefore  pray  this  honourable  House  to  take  into  their 
most  serious  consideration  the  nature,  extent,  and  operation  of  the 
aforesaid  penal  laws,  and,  by  repealing  the  same  altogether,  to  re- 
Btore  to  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland  those  liberties  So  long  with- 
held, and  their  due  share  in  that  Constitution,  which  they,  in 
common  with  their  fellow-subjects  of  every  other  description,  contri- 
bute by  taxes,  arms,  and  industry,  to  sustain  and  defend. 

"And  your  petitioners  will  ever  pray." 

On  the  24th  of  February  1810,  the  Catholic  bishops  met 
in  Dublin,  and  drew  up  the  following  resolutions  : — 


BOO     RESOLUTIONS  OF  CATHOLIC  BISHOPS. 


"Resolved  'That  it  is  the  undoubted  and  exclusive  right  of 

Roman  Catholic  bishops  to  discuss  and  decide  on  all  matters 
appertaining  to  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.' 

"Resolved — '  That  we  do  hereby  confirm  and  declare  our  un- 
altered adherence  to  the  resolutions  unanimously  entered  into  at  our 
last  general  meeting,  on  the  14th  September  1806.' 

u  Resolved — '  That  we  are  convinced  that  the  oath  of  allegiance 
framed  and  proposed  by  the  legislature  itself,  and  taken  by  us,  is 
not  only  adequate  security  for  our  loyalty,  but  that  we  know  of  no 
stronger  pledge  that  we  can  possibly  give/ 

"  Resolved — '  That  having  disclaimed  upon  oath  all  right  in  the 
Pope,  or  any  other  foreign  potentate,  to  interfere  in  the  temporal  con- 
cerns of  the  kingdom,  an  adherence  to  the  practice  observed  in  the 
appointment  of  Irish  Roman  Catholic  bishops  cannot  tend  to  produce 
an  undue  or  mischievous  exercise  of  any  foreign  influence  whatsoever. 

"  Resolved — ;  That  we  neither  seek  nor  desire  any  other  earthly 
consideration  for  our  spiritual  ministry  to  our  respective  flocks,  save 
what  they  may,  from  a  sense  of  religion  and  duty,  voluntarily 
afford  us.' 

"  Resolved — '  That  an  address,  explanatory  of  these  our  senti- 
ments, be  prepared  and  directed  to  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  and 
laity  of  Ireland,  and  conveying  such  further  instruction  as  existing 
circumstances  may  seem  to  require.'  "  5 

5  As  the  Veto  question  is  only  mentioned  incidentally  in  O'Connell's 
history,  we  shall  not  enter  into  this  subject.  It  is  one  which  would 
merit  careful  consideration,  but  such  consideration  would  require  more 
space  thai?  can  be  given  to  it  in  the  present  work. 

It  is  sufficient  to  observe  that,  though  a  few  of  the  Irish  bishops  were 
at  first  disposed  to  favour  it,  they  opposed  it  eventually  with  a  steady 
resolution,  which  saved  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  country,  and  in 
Great  Britain,  from  a  danger  which  was  not  the  less  to  be  apprehended^ 
because  it  was  deeply  insidious.  Dr  Lanigan,  the  great  Irish  ecclesi- 
asti  lal  historian,  was  one  of  the  most  energetic  and  successful  opposera 
of  this  scheme. 


THE  IRISH  CATHOLIC  HIERARCHY.  301 


The  Irish  Catholic  hierarchy,  with  a  trusting  confidence 
irbich  was  honourable  to  them,  however  misplaced,  had  long 
believed  that  to  protest  and  solemnly  declare  their  loyalty 
would  insure  a  belief  in  it.  They  had  at  last  begun  to 
learn  that  men  who  did  not  believe  their  word  would  be 
equally  unwilling  to  believe  their  oath.  They  had  learned 
that  a  dignified  statement  of  loyalty,  or  of  their  intentions, 
was  the  best  policy.  They  began  to  see  that  all  these 
demands  for  securities  were  mere  excuses,  the  excuses  of 
those  who  wished  to  evade  granting  justice  ;  first  by  asking 
securities  against  dangers  which  existed  only  in  their  own 
imagination,  then  by  refusing  the  securities,  no  matter  what 
solemn  pledges  might  be  made  of  their  authenticity. 

That  the  one  object  of  the  Veto  was  to  wean  the  Catholic 
clergy  from  the  Holy  See,  is  plainly  evident  from  the 
private  correspondence  of  the  times.  The  great  complaint 
against  the  Irish  priesthood  was  its  devotion  to  Rome. 
The  Veto  was  to  undermine  their  loyalty,  and  was  to  secure 
devotion  to  English  interests  as  a  substitution  for  devotion 
to  the  chair  of  Peter.  Of  course,  something  should  be 
offered  in  return,  and  Emancipation  was  proposed.  It  is  to 
be  feared  that,  if  the  Veto  had  been  agreed  upon,  Emanci- 
pation would  have  been  refused.6 

The  Protestant  Bishop  of  Meath  wrote  on  this  subject  to 

•  The  English  Government,  who  had  the  nomination  of  the  bishops 
for  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland,  took  care  that  their  nominees 
should  be  all  English, 


302      LETTER  OF  TEE  BISEOP  OF  ME  A  TH. 


Lord  Castlereagh  in  November  1800.  A  few  extracts  from 
ili is  letter  will  show  the  objects  avowedly  contemplated  : — 

M  First,  The  Catholic  clergy  were  to  be  made  more  independent  of 
the  people,  and  the  bishops  were  to  be  brought  into  contact  with  the 
Government, — 'So  early  as  the  year  1782, 1  entertained  the  idea  of 
the  policy  and  necessity  of  making  an  established  provision  for  the 
Roman  Catholic  clergy,  that  would  make  them  independent  of  their 
people.  I  necessarily  connected  this  measure  with  that  of  bringing 
their  bishops  more  in  contact  with  the  Government,  and  giving  the 
Castle  an  interference  and  influence  in  their  appointment.' 

"  Secondly,  Care  was  to  be  taken,  and  a  plan  arranged,  with  what 
would  have  been  called  Jesuitical  skill  and  duplicity,  and  the 
plan  emanated  from  a  Catholic  bishop,  that  the  priest  should  be  so 
educated  as  to  be  made  as  English  as  possible,  not  only  in  politica 
but  in  religion — '  In  France,  Spain,  and  the  Low  Countries,  the 
superiors  of  the  different  seminaries  for  the  English,  Scotch,  and 
Irish  Missions,  as  they  expressed  it,  were  always  natives  of  those 
kingdoms;  but  they  were  persons  exactly  of  the  description  which 
Government  must  ever  consider  as  disqualified  for  such  situations 
— persons  exclusively  devoted  to  the  See  of  Home,  educated  in  all 
the  principles,  and  therefore  certain  to  inculcate  and  teach  all 
the  principles,  that  militate  most  against  the  civil  authority  in  every 
country,  and  particularly  tainted  with  all  the  prejudices  against  our 
establishment  and  our  constitution,  which  an  education  in  countries 
hostile  to  both  cannot  fail  to  inspire.' 

"  Thirdly,  No  priest  was  to  be  allowed  to  officiate  in  Ireland 
unless  he  was  educated  at  Maynooth  under  Government  control 
and  supervision ;  for  those  educated  in  foreign  seminaries  would 
be  more  Roman,  and  the  '  foreign  priest  would  not  fail  to  reproach 
the  Maynooth  priest  as  half  a  heretic,  as  a  Government  instead  of 
a  Roman  priest ! ,7 

"  Fourthly,  The  doctrines  taught  at  Maynooth  were  to  be  such  aa 


Castlereagh  Correspondence,  vol.  iii. 


A   SIGNIFICANT  PARALLEL. 


303 


the  EDglish  Government  shall  approve.  The  legis'ators  of  the  day 
were  quite  indifferent  to  points  of  doctrine  ;  the  Protestant  parson  or 
the  Catholic  priest  might  teach  what  they  pleased  on  such  subjects; 
but  Caesar's  interests  were  to  be  looked  after  very  carefully.  They 
were  ordered  to  be  the  first  object ;  for  the  rest  it  mattered  little." 

The  Protestant  Bishop  of  Meath  had  very  distinct  and 
very  practical  ideas  on  this  subject.  He  was  by  no  means 
unjust  or  unfair  to  the  Catholic  clergy;  he  would  allow  them 
to  teach  what  they  pleased,  so  long  as  they  taught  submis- 
sion to  the  Government.  He  seems  to  have  been  an  honest, 
honourable  man  with  one  idea.  Why  could  not  these  men 
do  as  lie  did? — why  could  not  these  men  teach  as  he  taught? 
The  king  or  Government,  as  the  case  might  be,  was  the 
head  of  his  Church,  and  the  ultimate  source  of  his  doctrine. 
Those  men  who  would  not  act  as  he  did,  were  either  stupid 
or  perverse,  in  which  case  he  pitied  them;  but  he  was  be- 
yond his  age  in  liberality,  and  he  would  not  persecute  or 
suggest  persecution.8 

8  "  Great  precautions  should  be  taken  against  any  doctrines  being 
taught  in  the  College  that  might  militate  against  or  undermine  the 
establishment,  or  the  constitution  and  government  of  the  country." 

The  doctrine  taught  by  the  Catholic  clergy  did  not  concern  the  Pro- 
tectant bishop,  except  in  so  far  as  it  interfered  with  what  he  considered 
"loyalty."  The  whole  letter,  mutatis  mutandis,  is  curiously  like  a 
chr.rge  given  by  the  Bishop  of  Ely  on  the  20th  July  1872,  on  the  Bennett 
judgment,  in  which  he  says,  "  that  the  (Protestant)  Church  allows  a  fair 
liberty  of  prophesying,  but  that  ritual  and  ceremonial  must  be  '  some- 
what exact.'  "  In  fact,  so  long  as  there  was  an  attempt  at  exterior  con- 
formity, their  interior  conformity  mattered  very  little.  It  is  curious  to 
observe  the  similarity  of  opinion,  or  shall  we  say  indifference  to  "  doc- 
trine," between  the  bishop  of  1800  and  the  bishop  of  L872. 


m    (V CORNELL'S  ANXIETY  FOR  PUBLICITY. 


On  tlie  5th  January  1811,  a  meeting  was  held  for  the 
purpose  of  "  appointing  proper  persons  in  aid  of  the  Earl 
of  Fingal,  for  tlie  charge  of  the  petition  to  England." 

O'Connell.  practical  as  usual,  informed  the  committee 
thai  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  existing  penal  laws,  and  the  oppressive  conse- 
quences resulting  therefrom.    As  the  statement  occupied 
nearly  three  hundred  folio  pages,  it  would  not,  from  its 
voluminous  nature,  be  perfectly  ready  for  their  inspection 
before  Saturday  next.    Notice  would  then  be  given  to  have 
it  printed,  in  order  to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  members 
of  both  Houses  ;  and  it  would  be  a  subject  of  consideration 
with  the  committee,  whether  the  statement  should  be 
confined  to  the  members  of  Parliament  alone,  or  obtain  a 
more  general  publicity.  He  had  no  hesitation  in  saying  that, 
in  his  opinion,  the  preferable  mode  would  be  to  have  it 
published  in  the  usual  manner,  in  order  that  the  people  of 
the  United  Kingdom  might  be  enabled  to  entertain  no 
doubt  whatever  on  the  subject ;  for  it  has  been  said  that 
the  people  suffer  not  from  any  actual  or  positive  oppres- 
sion, but  because  they  are  told  so.    He  had  no  difficulty  in 
saying  that  this  was  an  evil  they  ought  to  encounter,  and 
the  importance  of  informing  every  person  in  England  of 
the  real  condition  of  the  Catholics,  should  supersede  any 
fastidious  notions  of  delicacy  or  forbearance. 

O'Connell  was  always  anxious  for  publicity;  he  had  no 
idea  of  concealment,  and  certainly  was  far  beyond  his  age 


TEE  EDINBURGH  REVIEWERS. 


305 


in  his  policy.  Hitherto  concealment  had  been  necessary, 
and  cautious  language  had  been  advisable.  It  needed  a 
man  like  the  Liberator  to  break  down  the  barriers  which 
were  no  longer  necessary,  but  which  were  preserved,  or  at- 
tempted to  be  preserved,  by  those  who  thought  more  of  their 
own  safety  than  the  public  good. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  O'Connell  made  a  speech  in 
which  he  spoke  freely  of  English  ignorance  of  Irish  affairs. 
Speaking  of  the  writers  in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  he 
said : — 

■  I  differ  from  them  on  the  subject  of  the  Veto,  .and  would 
undertake  to  convince  any  of  them  that  1  am  right.  I  also  easily 
see  myself  amongst  those  whom  they  style  'bombastic  counsellors/ 
and  1  smile  to  see  how  happily  they  have  described  that  fustian  and 
rant,  which  I  am  in  the  habit,  as  at  present,  of  obtruding  upon 
your  meetings.  But,  notwithstanding  this  attack,  which  I  admit  to 
be  personal,  I  do  most  sincerely  and  cordially  thank  them  for  their 
exertions.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  popular  feeling  to  continue 
long  its  gratitude;  but  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland  deserve  to  be  slaves,  if  they  ever  forget  what 
they  owe  to  the  writers  of  that  article.  Let  me,  however,  repeat 
jyy  regret,  that  its  effects  should  have  been  weakened  by  the  erro- 
neous view  which  those  writers  took  of  our  situation.  It  is  strange 
enough,  that  when  they  contributed  so  considerably  to  the  repeal  of 
the  s'ave  trade,  they  were  found  to  be  perfectly  conversant  with  the 
savage  tribes  of  Raarta  and  Bambana  ;  and  that  they  were  able  to 
give  dissertations  on  the  police  of  the  barbaric  cities  of  Sego  and 
Timbuctoo,  and  yet  are  so  deplorably  ignorant  of  the  condition  of 
the  white  slaves  of  Ireland.  We  have  another  excellent  advocate  in 
England — an  advocate  whom  we  could  bribe  only  one  way,  with  the 
justice  of  our  cause — I  mean  William  Cobbett.    It  is  truly  hnpor- 

U 


SOfl        0*  CONN  EEL'S  FEARLESS  HONESTY. 


taut  to  us  that  his  exertions  should  not  be  paralysed  by  ignorancfl 
<if  our  wants.  The  moment  we  can  show  him  the  extent  of  our 
oppressions,  we  furnish  him  with  materials  to  ensure  our  triumph — 
and  it  must  be  admitted  that  we  could  not  have  a  more  useful  advo- 
cate. When  he  is  right,  he  is  irresistible;  there  is  a  strength  and 
clearness  in  the  way  he  puts  every  topic  ;  lie  is  at  once  so  convinc- 
ing, and  yet  so  familiar,  that  the  dullest  can  understand,  and  even 
tlie  bigot  must  be  convinced.  But  what  has  deservedly  raised  him 
high  in  public  estimation  is  the  manly  candour  with  which  lie  avows 
and  retracts  any  opinion  that  he  discovers  to  be  erroneous." 

Perl) caps  the  characteristic  we  should  most  admire  at 
this  period  of  0' Council's  career,  was  his  uncompromising 
honesty.  He  knew  the  faults  of  his  countrymen,  he  was 
far  too  keen-sighted  not  to  see  them  ;  but  many  a  man,  both 
before  his  time  and  since,  has  seen  them,  and  has  not  dared 
to  denounce  them.  Disunion,  the  curse  of  Ireland  and  of 
Irish  politics,  threatened  the  extinction  of  the  Catholic 
body,  when  it  was  working  successfully;  and  O'Connell,  at 
the  risk  of  his  rising  prosperity,  set  himself  not  only  to 
make  peace,  hut  to  denounce  this  fatal  error. 

"  The  old  curse  of  the  Catholics  is,  I  fear,  about  to  be  renewed ; 
division,  that  made  us  what  we  are  and  keeps  us  so,  is  again  to 
rear  its  standard  amongst  us;  but  it  was  thus  always  with  the  Irish 
Catholics.  I  recollect  that  in  reading  the  life  of  the  great  Duke  of 
Ormond,  as  he  is  called,  I  was  forcibly  struck  with  a  despatch  of 
his,  transmitted  about  the  year  1GG1,  when  he  was  Lord-Lieutenant 
of  Ireland.  It  was  written  to  vindicate  himself  from  a  charge  of 
having  favoured  the  Papists,  and  having  given  them  permission  to 
hold  a  public  meeting  in  Dublin.  His  answer  is  remarkable.  He 
rejects  with  disdain  the  foul  calumny  of  being  a  favourer  of  Papists, 
though  he  admits  he  gave  them  leave  to  meet :  '  because,'  said  he, 


"JfF  GREAT  LIFT  IX  POPULARITY."  307 


'I  know  by  experience,  that  the  Irish  Papists  never  meet  without 
dividing  and  degrading  themselves.'  I  quote  the  words  of  the 
official  despatch  ;  I  can  lay  my  finger  on  the  very  spot  in  1  Carte's 
Life  of  Ormond.'" 

"One  hundred  and  fifty  years  have  since  elapsed,  and  we  are 
still  in  thraldom,  because  no  experience  can,  I  fear,  cure  us  of  this 
wretched  disposition  to  divide.  He  entreated  of  the  respectable 
gentlemen  who  that  day  attended  the  committee,  to  consider  that 
their  mistakes,  if  they  had  made  any,  ought  not  to  be  visited  with  so 
grievous  a  calamity  as  that  of  creating  dissension  amongst  them." 

The  truth  was,  that  the  Government  were  beginning  to 
bribe  the  upper  class  of  Catholics  who  were  members  of 
the  Association,  and  it  is  said  that  some  of  those  gentle- 
men had  been  tampered  with  seriously. 

O'Connell  himself  dated  his  position  as  leader  of  the 
Catholic  party  from  the  year  1810.  When  speaking  of 
this  subject  to  Mr  Daunt,  he  said — 

"In  1810,  the  corporation  of  Dublin  met  at  the  Royal  Exchange 
to  petition  for  the  Repeal  of  the  Union.  John  Keogh  attended  the 
meeting  and  made  a  speech.  I  also  spoke  in  support  of  the  Repeal, 
and  thenceforth,  do  I  date  my  great  lift  in  popularity.  Keogh  saw 
that  I  was  calculated  to  become  a  leader.  He  subsequently  tried  to 
impress  me  with  his  own  policy  respecting  Catholic  affairs.  The 
course  he  then  recommended  was  a  sullen  quiescence;  he  urged  that 
the  Catholics  should  abstain  altogether  from  agitation,  and  he 
laboured  hard  to  bring  me  to  adopt  his  views.  But  I  saw  that 
agitation  was  our  only  available  weapon  ;  I  saw  that  incessantly 
keeping  our  demands  and  our  grievances  before  the  public  and  the 
Government,  we  must  sooner  or  later  succeed.  Moreover,  that 
period  above  all  others  was  not  one  at  which  our  legitimate  weapon, 
agitation,  could  have  prudently  been  let  to  rust.  It  was  during  the 
war,  and  while  Napoleon — that    splendid  madman — made  the 


JOHN  KEOGE. 


Catholics  of  Ireland  so  essential  to  the  military  defence  of  the 
empire  ;  the  time  seemed  peculiarly  appropriate  to  press  our  claims. 
About  that  period  a  great  Catholic  meeting  was  held.  John  Keogh 
was  then  old  and  infirm  ;  but  his  presence  was  eagerly  desired,  and 
the  meeting  awaited  his  arrival  with  patient  good  humour.  I  and 
another  were  deputed  to  request  his  attendance.  John  Keogh  had 
this  peculiarity — that  when  he  was  waited  on  about  matters  of 
business,  he  would  talk  away  on  ail  sorts  of  subjects  except  the  busi- 
ness which  had  brought  his  visitors  ;  accordingly,  he  talked  a  great 
deal  about  everything  but  Catholic  politics  for  the  greater  portion 
of  our  visit;  and  when  at  length  we  pressed  him  to  accompany  ua 
to  the  meeting,  the  worthy  old  man  harangued  us  for  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  to  demonstrate  the  impolicy  of  publicly  assembling  at  all, 
and  ended  by  coming  to  the  meeting.  lie  drew  up  a  resolution 
which  denounced  the  continued  agitation  of  the  Catholic  question  at 
that  time.  This  resolution,  proceeding  as  it  did  from  a  tried  old 
leader,  was  carried.  I  then  rose  and  proposed  a  counter  resolution, 
pledging  us  all  to  incessant,  unrelaxing  agitation  ;  and  such  were 
the  wiseacres  with  whom  I  had  to  deal,  that  they  passed  my  reso- 
lution in  the  midst  of  enthusiastic  acclamations,  without  once  dream- 
ing that  it  ran  directly  counter  to  John  Keogh's  !  Thenceforward,  I 
may  say,  I  was  the  leader.  Keogh  called  at  my  house  some  short 
time  after;  he  paid  me  many  compliments,  and  repeated  his  im- 
portunities that  I  might  alter  my  policy.  But  I  was  inexorable  ; 
my  course  was  resolved  upon  and  taken.  I  refused  to  yield.  He 
departed  in  bad  humour,  and  I  never  saw  him  afterwards. 

"  Keogh  was  undoubtedly  useful  in  his  day.  But  he  was  one 
who  would  rather  that  the  cause  should  fail,  than  that  anybody 
but  himself  should  have  the  honour  of  carrying  it. 

"He  and  his  coadjutors  made  a  mistake  in  1793.  He  was  a 
member  of  a  deputation,  consisting  altogether  of  five  persons,  wkc 
had  an  interview  with  Pitt  and  Dundas  on  the  subject  of  the 
Catholic  claims.  Pitt  asked,  '  What  would  satisfy  the  Catholics?' 
Keogh  replied,  'Equality.'    Pitt  seemed  inclined  to  comply  with 


THREE  "  GREAT  EOOXS."  30S 


the  wishes  of  the  deputation,  but  Dundas  started  several  objections. 
Pitt  then  said,  1  Would  you  be  satisfied  with  the  bar,  the  elective 
franchise,  and  eligibility  to  the  municipalities?'  Keogli  replied, 
■They  would  be  great  boons.'  Pitt  immediately  pinned  him  to 
that,  and  would  concede  no  uiurft." 


Chapter  §tk\\i\ 


PROFESSIONAL  A2W  POLITICAL  SUCCESSES. 
180S-1S12. 

OHANGE  OUTRAGES — RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTION — INTOLERANCE  IN  THE  ARMY— 
ADVENTURES  ON  CIRCUIT — ANOTHER  AFFAIR  OF  HONOU  R— PROFESSION  Al 
SUCCESSES — 8PEECH  AT  LIMERICK  —  HAPPY  ALLUSIONS  —  ADDRESS  FROM 
DINOLE  AND  REPLY — CATHOLICS  ENTERTAINING  PROTESTANTS  AT  THB 
FESTIVE  BOARD — THE  GOVERNMENT  AH3  THE  CATHOLIC  ASSOCIATION — MR 
WELLESLEY  POLE — ADDRESSING  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES — 8PEECHES  ON  THE 
ADDRESS  AND  CONDUCT  OF  POLE — MR  PERCEVAL — POLITICAL  DISSENSION 
AMONG  CATHOLICS  —  RIGHT  OF  ASSEMBLY  —  ARREST  OF  LORD  FINGAL— 
SSJZLLEY — ENGLISH  INJUSTICE — ~*THEB,  DAM— AT  LIMERICK  AMD  OORK. 


}HE  Orange  Lodges  bad  never 

0    ceased  their  activity  since  the 

Rebellion  of  1798,   and  some 
i  7 

members  of  these  lodges  were  guilty 
of  acts  of  singular  cruelty. 

O'Connell  took  care  to  make  those 
outrages  public,  and  certainly  the  conduct  of 
some  individuals  connected  with  this  body  was  a 
disgrace  to  humanity.  Harmless  and  innocect 
i>  children,  helpless  and  infirm  women,  were  but 
too  frequently  the  objects  of  their  wicked  veo- 
^»  — ^  geance.  On  the  12th  of  July  1808,  they  shot  down 
a  }  oor  idiot,  known  as  Jack  of  the  Roads.  w>w>  h*«] 


314 


ORANGE  OUTRAGES. 


made  a  bet  that  he  would  run  from  Dublin  to  Limerick, 
keeping  pace  with  the  mail.  The  bet  was  fourpence  and 
a  pint  of  porter.  As  he  passed  through  Mountrath  on  his 
return,  he  was  foolish  enough  to  flourish  a  green  bough  at 
a  party  of  Orangemen.  One  of  them  fired  at  his  face  ;  his 
eyes  were  destroyed,  and  they  left  him  to  die  in  torment  by 
the  road  side. 

In  Dublin  they  attacked  some  poor  people,  who  had 
made  a  bonfire  and  danced  round  St  Kevin's  fountain 
with  garlands,  and  shot  them  down  like  dogs.  At  Newry, 
eighteen  men  crept  round  a  party  who  were  enjoying 
themselves  on  the  eve  of  St  John  the  Baptist  by  lighting 
bonfires,  and  shot  them  down  in  cold  blood.  All  this 
passed  unpunished;  but  if  Catholics  had  been  the  guilty 
individuals,  there  would  have  been  a  cry  from  one  end  of 
England  to  the  other  for  vengeance. 

But  this  was  not  all.  At  the  very  time  when  Irish  sol- 
diers were  dying  by  hundreds  for  the  defence  of  England, 
when  the  peninsula  of  Spain  was  reeking  with  their  life- 
blood,  they  were  not  only  refused  the  consolations  of  their 
religion,  but  were  cruelly  punished  if  they  even  dared 
to  ask  for  them.  It  was  no  wonder  that  they  should  have 
little  love  of  the  upper  classes  of  their  Catholic  fellow- 
countrymen,  who,  content  with  their  own  spiritual  advan- 
tages, troubled  themselves  but  little  for  those  whose  soula 
were  equally  precious  in  the  sight  of  their  Creator.  It  was 
"°  wonder  that  these  poor  men  looked  up  with  all  tb» 


INTOLERANCE  IN  THE  ARMY. 


315 


reverence  of  their  being  to  the  man  who  stood  up  boldly  to 
proclaim  their  rights,  to  ask  why  they  should  be  excepted 
from  the  benefits  of  such  religious  liberty  as  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  day  permitted.8 

On  the  1st  December  1810,  O'Connell  brought  this  sub- 
ject before  the  Catholic  committee.  We  quote  his  speech 
from  the  files  of  the  Dublin  Evening  Pest  of  that  date  : — 

44  Sir,  I  rise  in  pursuance  of  the  notice  which  I  gave  at  our  last 
meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  stating  such  information  as  I  have 
received,  respecting  the  illegal  persecution  of  an  Irish  Catholic 
soldier  of  the  militia.  And,  sir,  in  my  humble  judgment,  we  should 
be  guilty  of  a  dereliction  of  duty  to  our  feilow-couutrymen,  if  we 
suffered  the  perpetrators  of  the  offence,  which  I  am  about  to  state, 
to  go  unpunished. 

44 1  conceive  we  are  called  on  by  every  social  feeling  as  Catholics 
and  as  Irishmen,  to  drag  the  bigoted  delinquents,  whatever  may  be 
their  exalted  rank  in  life,  not  only  before  an  enlightened  public, 
but  before  a  court  of  criminal  jurisdiction. 

44  The  facts,  as  reported  to  me,  are  shortly  these : — A  Roman 
Catholic  private  soldier,  belonging  to  a  certain  regiment  of  militia, 
for  no  other  offence  than  for  attending  at  chapel  to  discharge  those 
religious  duties  which  he,  in  common  with  all  mankind,  owed  to 

Ills  God,  HAS  BERN  SKNTENCKD  TO  BIO  TRANSPORT  10 D  FOR  LIFE  ! — and 

had  actually,  like  a  common  convict,  proceeded  so  far  on  his  passage 
into  exile  as  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

•  Patrick  Spence,  a  Catholic  private  in  the  Dublin  militia,  was  re- 
quired to  attend  the  Protestant  service.  He  refused,  and  was  at  once 
conveyed  to  the  black  hole.  He  then  wrote  a  respectful  expostulation 
to  his  commanding  officer  ;  for  this  he  was  tried,  by  court  martial,  and 
sentenced  to  receive  099  lashes.  The  barbarous  sentence  was  in  the 
act  of  execution  v  hen  he  was  offered  the  choice  of  an  exchange  into  a 
condemned  regiment,  which  he  accepted. 


316  A  MOST  CRUEL  INJUSTICE. 

u  Sir,  there  are  two  courses  left  for  us  to  adopt  in  this  case  ;  the 
first,  is  to  bring  the  facts,  in  whatever  shape  may  be  thought  ad- 
visable, before  the  House  of  Commons  ;  the  second,  to  have  the 
busiii ess  investigated  in  a  court  of  law,  and  disposed  of  by  the 
verdict  of  a  jury.  That  the  law,  as  it  now  exists,  is  sufficiently 
strong  to  punish  the  persons  guilty  of  the  crime,  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  I  shall  therefore  move  that  our  secretary,  Mr  E.  Hay,  do 
open  a  subscription  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  expense  of 
having  the  matter  fully  investigated;  and  that  a  sub-committee, 
consisting  of  five,  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  truth  of  the 
facts,  and  to  report  to  the  general  committee." 

The  motion  was  seconded  by  Mr  Hussey,  and  Mr  Coyle 
called  the  attention  of  the  meeting  to  the  injustice 
done  to  the  Catholics  in  Roscommon  and  Fermanagh, 
where  a  Catholic  was  not  even  allowed  to  hold  the  situation 
of  a  non-commissioned  officer.  The  colonel  of  the  Ferma- 
nagh regiment  obliged  every  officer  to  take  the  Orange  oath 
— a  most  cruel  injustice. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written  by  Protestants 
about  the  persecuting  spirit  of  the  Catholic  Church,  yet 
they  have  curiously  overlooked  the  bitter  and  relentless 
persecutions  of  their  own  Church.  At  this  very  period  a 
Catholic  Church  was  robbed  by  some  Orangemen,  and 
though  the  robbery  was  clearly  proved,  the  jury  being  also 
Orangemen,  refused  to  convict;  more  than  probably  because 
they  considered  robbery  under  such  circumstances  as  no 
sin.1   Well  might  Mr  O'Connell  say,  when  speaking  of  the 

1  Counsellor  Kernan,  a  Fermanagh  gentleman,  was  appealed  to  at 
this  meeting  to  give  information  on  the  subject ;  he  said  :— 


TEMPER  OF  THE  TIMES. 


317 


necessity  for  proposing  a  compilation  of  the  penal  laws, 
that  Englishmen  might  know  the  grievances  from  which 
Ireland  had  long  suffered,  that  "  from  the  unfortunate 
temper  of  the  times,  and  the  unhappy  code  of  laws  which 
prevailed  on  these  subjects,  a  jury  might  possibly  be  found 
to  strain  the  law  to  the  worst  purposes."  2 

O'Connell  visited  Limerick  on  circuit  during  the  summer 
of  the  year  1810.  The  admirable  sketch  taken  of  him  in 
the  Court  house  on  this  occasion  will  be  found  at  the  head 
of  this  chapter.  It  is  the  only  early  likeness  of  O'ConnelJ 
in  existence.    The  features  express  more  intelligence  than 


"Sir,  I  am  not  competent  to  say  (because  I  am  ignorant  of  the  fact) 
whether  the  private  soldiers  of  the  Fermanagh  regiment,  professing 
the  Catholic  religion,  are  prevented  by  the  Earl  of  Enniskillen  from 
exerting  their  religious  duties — I  should  hope  the  fact  is  otherwise. 

"  With  respect  to  the  circumstance  of  the  scandalous  outrage  com- 
mitted in  the  Chapel  of  Enniskillen,  the  trial  had  been  published  in  all 
the  newspapers  of  this  city  ;  and,  to  such  persons  as  had  read  the  report,  it 
is  unnecessary  for  me  to  state  more  than  this  fact ;  namely,  that  at  the  trial 
there  was  sufficient  evidence  produced  on  the  part  of  the  Crown  to  convict 
the  traverser,  and  that  the  verdict  of  acquittal  was,  therefore,  not  only 
contrary  to  evidence,  but  to  the  charge  of  Mr  Justice  Fletcher,  the  learned 
judge  who  presided. 

"  It  -was  not  singular  in  that  county,  that  the  jury  who  tried  the 
officer  consisted  of  Protestants — there  being  but  two  instances,  as  I  am 
informed,  since  the  Revolution,  of  Catholics  serving  as  jurors  at  the 
assizes  of  Enniskillen." — Dublin  Morning  Post,  December  15,  1810. 

2  From  his  speech  at  the  Catholic  Committee,  15th  December  1810. — 
Dublin  Evening  Post. 

All  the  extracts  from  newspapers  given  in  this  work  are  taken  from 
the  original  source,  a  very  large  collection  having  been  placed  in  my 
hands  through  the  kindness  of  friends. 


318 


"THE  GOOD  OLD  TIMES.* 


power,  yet  we  can  trace  indications  of  the  more  massive 

expression  which  developed  itself  in  after  life.8 

O'Connell  was  fond  of  relating  his  adventures  when  on 

circuit ;  and  as  he  seldom  lost  sight  of  a  joke,  or  failed  to 

see  one,  his  repertory  of  stories  was  sufficiently  amusing. 

He  would  tell  in  after  life  of  the  "good  old  times  " — good 

as  far  as  the  comfort  of  easy  travelling  was  concerned,  when 

a  journey  was  to  a  great  extent  a  pleasure.   At  such  times, 

too,  he  could  unburden  himself  of  professional  cares ;  and 

for  a  man  who  worked  as  he  did,  such  relaxation  must  have 

been  both  necessary  and  enjoyable. 

'"In  1780/  he  used  to  say,  'the  two  members  for  the  county 
Kerry,  when  preparing  to  visit  Dublin,  sent  to  the  metropolis  for 
a  noddy.  The  noddy  took  eight  days  to  get  to  Kerry,  and  they, 
when  seated  in  it,  took  seventeen  days  to  get  to  Dublin  !  Each 
night  the  two  members,  owing  to  the  absence  of  inns,  quartered 
themselves  at  the  house  of  some  friend  ;  and  on  the  seventeenth 
day  they  reached  Dublin,  just  in  time  for  the  opening  of  the  ses- 
sion.' 

"  Speaking  of  the  inn  at  Mill  Street,  he  said  : —  The  improved 
roads  have  injured  that  inn.  I  well  remember  when  it  was  the 
regular  end  of  the  first  day's  journey  from  Tralee.  It  was  a  com- 
fortable thing  for  a  social  pair  of  fellow-travellers  to  get  out  of 
their  chaise  at  night-fall,  and  to  find  at  the  inn  (it  was  then  kept 
by  a  cousin  of  mine,  a  Mrs  Cotter)  a  roaring  fire  in  a  clean,  welb 
furnished  parlour,  the  whitest  table-linen,  the  best  beef,  the  sweetest 
and  tenderest  mutton,  the  fattest  fowl,  the  most  excellent  winea 


3  This  likeness  was  taken  by  Mr  Gubbins,  an  artist  still  living  at  th* 
advanced  age  of  85.  I  am  indebted  to  Mr  Lenihan,  author  of  th« 
"  History  of  Limerick,"  for  the  original,  which  is  in  his  possession. 


"A   RIGHT  GOOD  HOUSE? 


319 


(claret  and  Madeira  were  the  high  wines  there — they  knew  no- 
thing about  champagne),  and  the  most  comfortable  beds.  In  my 
early  days  it  was  by  far  the  best  inn  in  Minister.  But  the  new 
roads  enabled  travellers  to  get  far  beyond  Mill  Street  in  a  day  ;  and 
the  inn,  being  therefore  less  frequented  than  of  old,  is,  of  course,  not 
so  well  looked  after  by  its  present  proprietor. 

There  was  the  Coach  and  Horses  Inn  at  Assolas,  in  the  county 
Clare,  close  to  the  bridge,'  said  O'Connell.  1  What  delicious  claret 
they  had  there  !  It  is  levelled  with  the  ground  these  many  years. 
Then,  there  was  that  inn  at  Maryborough  ;  how  often  have  I  seen 
the  old  trooper  who  kept  it  smoking  his  pipe  on  the  stone  bench  at 
the  door,  and  his  fat  old  wife  sitting  opposite  him.  They  kept  a 
right  good  house.  She  inherited  the  inn  from  her  father  and  mother, 
and  was  early  trained  up  to  the  business.  She  was  an  only  child, 
and  had  displeased  her  parents  by  a  runaway  match  with  a  private 
dragoon.  However,  they  soon  relented  and  received  her  and  her 
husband  into  favour.  The  worthy  trooper  took  charge  of  the  stable 
department,  for  which  his  habits  well  adapted  him  ;  and  the  in-door 
business  was  admirably  managed  by  his  wife.  Then,  there  was  that 
inn  at  Naas,  most  comfortably  kept — and  excellent  wine.  I  re- 
member stopping  to  dine  there  one  day,  posting  up  from  the 
Limerick  assizes.  There  were  three  of  us  in  the  chaise,  and  one  was 
tipsy  ;  his  eyes  were  bloodshot  and  his  features  swollen  from  hard 
drinking  on  the  previous  night,  besides  which  he  had  tippled  a  little 
in  the  morning.  As  he  got  out  of  the  chaise,  I  called  him  1  Parson!' 
to  the  evident  delight  of  a  Methodist  preacher,  who  was  haranguing 
a  crowd  in  the  street,  and  who  deemed  his  own  merits  enhanced  by 
the  contrast  with  a  sottish  minister  of  the  Establishment.'  " 

On  one  occasion  as  he  travelled  from  Ashbourne  to 
Dublin,  some  objects   of  antiquity  which  Grose4  had 

4  This  is  the  Captain  Grose  of  whom  Burns  wrote— 
"A  duel's  aiming  you  takin'  notes, 
And,  faith,  lie'il  prent  'em." 


32u      CAPTAIN  GROSE  AND  THE  BUTCHER. 


illustrated,  recalled  that  antiquary  to  the  Liberator's 
mind : — 

" 1  Grose,'  said  he,  *  came  to  Ireland  full  of  strong  prejudices 
against  the  people,  but  they  gave  way  beneath  the  influence  of  Irish 
drollery.  He  was  very  much  teazed,  when  walking  through  the 
Dublin  markets,  by  the  butchers  besetting  him  for  his  custom.  At 
last  lie  got  angry,  and  told  them  all  to  go  about  their  business  ; 
when  a  sly,  waggish  butcher,  deliberately  surveying  Grose's  tat, 
ruddy  face  and  corpulent  person,  said  to  him,  '  Well,  plaze  your 
honour,  I  won't  ask  you  to  buy  since  it  puts  your  honour  in  a 
passion.  But  I'll  tell  you  how  you'll  sarve  me.'  '  How  1 '  inquired 
Grose  in  a  gruff  growl.  4  Just  tell  all  your  friends  that  its  Larry 
HefFernan  that  supplies  your  honour  with  mate,  and  never  fear  I'll 
have  custom  enough.'  " 

Passing  through  Nenagh,  he  said — 

li  Some  years  ago,  when  this  neighbourhood  was  much  infested 
with  robbers,  I  was  travelling  on  circuit.  My  horses  were  not  very 
good,  and  just  at  this  spot  I  saw  a  man  whose  movements  excited 
my  suspicions.  He  slowly  crossed  the  road,  about  twenty  yards  in 
advance  of  my  carriage,  and  awaited  my  approach  with  his  back 
against  the  wall,  and  his  hand  in  the  breast  of  his  coat,  as  if  ready 
to  draw  a  pistol.  I  felt  certain  I  should  be  attacked,  so  I  held  my 
pistol  ready  to  fire,  its  barrel  resting  on  the  carriage  door.  The 
man  did  not  stir,  and  so  escaped.  Had  he  but  raised  his  hand,  I 
should  have  fired.  Good  God  !  what  a  miserable  guilty  wretch  I 
should  have  been !  How  sincerely  I  thank  God  for  my  escape  from 
such  guilt ! " 

We  find  O'Connell  in  Limerick  again  in  August  1813, 
and  engaged  in  "  an  affair  of  honour."  While  occupied 
in  professional  business,  he  got  into  an  altercation  with 
Counsellor  Magrath,  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 


AiV  AFFAIR  OF  HONOUR. 


321 


day.  should  be  settled  by  pistols.  The  combatants  met  in 
the  old  court-mill  field,  the  usual  resort  in  such  cases.  Mr 
O'Gorman  was  O'Connell's  second,  and  Mr  Bennet  was 
second  to  Mr  Magrath.  Mr  Be-nnet  stepped  the  ground 
by  mutual  consent;  but  at  the  last  moment  a  party  of 
gentlemen  came  on  the  ground  to  make  peace,  or,  if  peact 
could  not  be  made,  to  see  the  fight  out.  Peace  was  made 
eventually.  Magrath  declared  himself  sorry  for  what  had 
occurred,  and  OVonnell  declared  he  bore  no  enmity  to 
Magrath.  The  two  gentlemen  then  shook  hands,  and  drove 
back  to  the  city  in  the  same  carriage,  conversing. 

Possibly  it  never  occurred  to  any  of  the  party  how  very 
different  the  end  might  have  been. 

OTonnelTs  fame  as  a  barrister  was  now  increasing 
daily.*  In  the  autumn  assizes  of  1 S 1 3,  twenty-six  cases 
were  tried  in  Limerick  Court-house,  and  he  held  a  brief 
each  case.  His  professional  career  was  a  series  of  suc- 
cesses;  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  it  was  considered  a  favour 
when  he  accepted  a  retainer. 

One  case  in  which  he  was  engaged  at  this  period  wa^ 
painfully  characteristic  of  the  times.  O'Connell's  address 
to  the  judge,  when  moving  for  a  conditional  order  against 

5  Sir  Joshua  Earrington  thus  describes  O'Connell's  appearance  at  this 
period,  in  his  not  very  veracious  "  Personal  Sketches,''  voL  ii.  p.  452. 
"O'Connell  at  that  day  was  a  large,  ruddy,  young  man,  with  a  most 
Ravage  lialect,  an  imperturbable  countenance,  intrepid  address,  etprretered 
uikil?  Sir  Joshua  w  as  not  gifted  with  much  discrimination  >f  charac- 
ter, or  he  would  not  have  written  the  last  sentence, 

X 


822     CARRYING  "EGGS  TO  A   BAD  MARKET." 


the  magistrates  concerned  in  the  affair,  will  sufficiently 
explain  the  circumstances. 

''The  facts  of  the  case,"  lie  said,  "are  really  curious,  and  would 
be  merely  ludicrous  but  for  the  sufferings  inflicted  on  my  client. 
The  affidavits  stated  that  a  peasant  girl  named  Hennessey  had  a 
hen  which  laid — not  golden  eggs,  but  eggs  strangely  marked  with 
red  lines  and  figures.  She,  on  the  21st  April  1813,  brought  her 
hen  and  eggs  to  the  town  of  Koscrea,  near  which  she  lived,  and  of 
which  the  defendant  was  the  Protestant  curate.  It  appeared  by 
the  result  that  she  brought  her  eggs  to  a  bad  market,  though  at  first 
she  had  some  reason  to  think  differently ;  for  the  curiosity  excited 
by  those  eggs  attracted  some  attention  to  the  owner ;  and  as  she 
was  the  child  of  parents  who  were  miserably  poor,  her  wardrobe  was 
in  such  a  state  that  she  might  almost  literally  be  said  to  be  clothed 
in  nakedness.  My  lord,  a  small  subscription  to  buy  her  a  petticoat 
was  suggested  by  the  person  who  makes  the  present  affidavit,  him- 
self a  working  weaver  of  the  town,  James  Murphy,  and  the  sum  of 
fifteen  shillings  was  speedily  collected.  It  was  a  little  fortune  to 
the  poor  creature ;  she  kissed  her  hen,  thanked  her  benefactors,  and 
with  a  light  heart  started  on  her  return  home.  But  diis  aliter 
visum  ;  at  that  moment  two  constables  arrived  with  a  warrant  signed 
by  the  Rev.  William  Hamilton.  This  warrant  charged  her  with  the 
strange  offence  of  a  foul  imposition.  It  would  appear  as  if  it  were 
issued  in  some  wretched  jest  arising  from  the  sound,  not  the  sense. 
But  it  proved  no  joke  to  the  girl,  for  she  was  arrested.  Her  hen, 
her  eggs,  and  her  fifteen  shillings  were  taken  into  custody,  and  car- 
ried before  his  Worship.  He  was  not  at  leisure  to  try  the  case  that 
day.  The  girl  was  committed  to  Bridewell,  where  she  lay  a  close 
prisoner  for  twenty-four  hours,  when  his  Bev.  Worship  was  pleased 
to  dispose  of  the  matter.  Without  the  mockery  of  any  trial,  he 
proceeded  at  once  to  sentence.  He  sentenced  the  girl  to  perpetual 
banishment  from  Boscrea.  He  sent  her  out  of  the  town  guarded 
by  three  constables,  and  with  positive  injunctions  never  to  set  foot 
M  it  again.    He  decapitated  her  hen  with  his  own  sacred  handft 


"  COy  Til  A  R  Y  TO   GOOD  MA  yy  ERS."  323 


He  broke  the  eggs  and  confiscated  the  fifteen  shillings.  When  the 
girl  returned  to  her  home — the  fowl  dead,  the  eggs  broken,  and  tha 
fifteen  shillings  in  bis  reverence's  pocket,  one  would  suppose  justice 
quite  satisfied.  But  no  !  his  Worship  discovered  that  Murphy  had 
collected  the  offending  money ;  he  was  therefore  to  be  punished. 
He  was,  indeed,  first  tried — but  under  what  law,  think  you  ?  Why, 
literally,  my  lords,  under  the  statute  of  good  manners.  Yes,  under 
that  act,  wherever  it  is  to  be  found,  was  Murphy  tried,  convicted, 
and  sentenced.  He  was  committed  to  Bridewell,  where  he  lay  for 
three  days.  The  committal  states  '  that  he  was  charged  on  oath 
with  having  assisted  in  a  foul  imposition  on  public  credulity — con- 
trary to  good  manners.'  These  are  the  words  of  the  committal ;  and 
he  was  ordered  to  be  detained  until  he  should  give  security — 1  for 
his  good  behaviour.'  Such  is  the  ridiculous  warrant  on  which  an 
humble  man  has  been  deprived  of  his  liberty  for  three  days.  Such 
are  the  details  given  of  the  vexatious  proceedings  of  the  reverend 
magistrate.  It  was  to  be  hoped  that  those  details  would  turn  out 
to  be  imaginary  ;  but  they  are  sworn  to — positively  sworn  to — and 
require  investigation,  the  more  especially  as-  motives  of  a  highly 
culpable  nature  were  attributed  —  he  (O'Connell)  hoped  unduly 
attributed — to  the  gentleman.  He  was  charged  on  oath  with  hav- 
ing been  actuated  by  malice  towards  this  wretched  girl  because  she 
was  a  Catholic.  It  was  sworn  that  his  object  was  to  establish  some 
charge  of  superstition  against  her,  upon  no  better  ground  than  this — 
that  one  of  those  eggs  had  a  mark  on  it  nearly  resembling  a  cross." 

The  rule  was  granted,  but  Mr  Hamilton  compromised 
the  case,  in  consequence  of  the  public  exposure  of  his  con- 
duct. 

One  of  0' Council's  best  reported  and  most  brilliant 
speeches  was  made  at  Limerick,  while  he  was  on  circuit 
in  1812.  The  meeting  was  held  at  the  Commercial  Build- 
ings, George's  Street.    T.  R.  Ryan,  of  Scarteen,  Esq.,  waa 


324 


PROTESTANT  CO-OPERATION. 


in  the  chair,  and  the  meeting  was  opened  with  a  speech 
from  Mr  William  Eoche,  the  same  gentleman  who  repre- 
sented the  city  of  Limerick,  on  Bepeal  principles,  from  the 
Passing  of  the  Reform  Bill  until  1841.  After  expressing 
general  concurrence  with  the  proceedings  of  the  Catholic 
Board  in  Dublin,  confident  hope  of  the  success  of  the 
cause  in  the  next  session  of  Parliament,  gratitude  to  its 
friends  in  that  body,  and  aversion  to  the  idea  of  what  were 
called  "  securities "  being  given  in  return  for  Catholic 
emancipation,  he  read  the  resolutions  that  had  been  pre- 
pared, and  moved  their  adoption. 

CTConnell  then  rose  amid  thunders  of  applause,  and 
spoke  for  more  than  an  hour.  The  following  are  some  of 
the  most  striking  passages  in  his  address : — 

"  We  owe  it  to  the  liberality  of  the  Irish  Protestants,  to  the  zeal 
of  the  Irish  Presbyterians,  to  the  friendly  exertion  of  the  Irish 
Quakers ;  we  owe,  to  the  cordial  re-union  of  every  sect  and  denomi- 
nation of  Irish  Christians,  the  progress  of  our  cause.  They  have 
procured  for  us  the  solemn  and  distinct  promise  and  pledge  of  the 
House  of  Commons — they  almost  obtained  for  us  a  similar  declara- 
tion from  the  House  of  Lords.  It  was  lost  by  the  petty  majority 
of  one  •  it  was  lost  by  a  majority,  not  of  those  who  listened  to  the 
absurd  prosings  of  Lord  Eldon,  to  the  bigoted  and  turbid  declama- 
tion of  that  English  Chief-Justice,  whose  sentiments  so  forcibly 
recall  the  memory  of  the  Star  Chamber ;  not  of  those  who  were  able 
to  compare  the  vapid  or  violent  folly  of  the  one  party,  with  the 
statesman-like  sentiments,  the  profound  arguments,  the  splendid 
eloquence  of  the  Marquis  Wellesley." 

He  then  denounced,  in  scathing  and  indignant  language, 


REPRESENTATION  OF  LIMERICK. 


325 


the  deliberate  lie  which  Lord  Castlereagh  had  uttered  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  that  no  torture  had  been  used  in 
Ireland  in  the  years  1797  and  179S.  His  hearers  knew 
but  too  well  how  utterly  false  this  statement  was,  but  it 
answered  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  uttered  ;  it  silenced 
or  satisfied  the  indignation  of  such  Englishmen  as  were 
sufficiently  humane  to  dislike  this  mode  of  government. 
Who,  indeed,  would  believe  any  assertion  made  to  the 
contrary,  even  by  the  nation,  when  a  noble  lord  had  spoken 
on  the  subject?  And  in  our  own  time,  the  bold  assertion 
of  an  unscrupulous  politician  is  not  unfrequently  taken  in 
evidence  by  those  who  prefer  to  believe  a  lie. 

In  conclusion,  O'Connell  spoke  on  the  all-important 
subject  of  the  representation  of  the  city  ;  and  for  the  first 
time  we  find  the  idea  thrown  out  openly  of  offering  himself 
as  a  parliamentary  representative: — 

"  You  deserve  not  freedom — you,  citizens  of  Limerick,  with  the 
monuments  of  the  valour  of  your  ancestors  around  you — you  are  less 
than  men,  if  my  feeble  tongue  be  requisite  to  rouse  you  into  activity. 
Your  city  is,  at  present,  nearly  a  close  borough  ;  do  but  will  it,  and 
you  make  it  free ! 

"  I  know  legal  obstacles  have  been  thrown  in  your  way.  I  know 
that,  for  months  past,  the  Recorder  has  sat  alone  at  the  sessions — ■ 
that  he  lias  not  only  tried  cases,  in  the  absence  of  any  other  magis- 
trate, which  he  is  authorised  by  law  to  do,  but  that  he  has  solely 
opened  and  adjourned  the  sessions,  which,  in  my  opinion,  he  is 
clearly  unwarranted  in  doing ;  he  has,  by  this  means,  I  know,  de- 
layed the  registry  of  your  freeholds,  because  two  magistrates  are 
necessary  for  that  purpose  :  I  have,  however,  the  satisfaction  to  tell 
you,  that  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  will,  in  the  next  term,  havn  to 


326  BIDDING  FOR  PARLIAMENTARY  HONOURS. 


determine  on  the  legality  of  his  conduct,  and  of  that  of  the  other 
charter  magistrates,  who  have  banished  themselves,  I  understand, 
from  the  Sessions'  Court,  since  the  registry  has  been  spoken  of! 
They  shall  be  served  with  the  regular  notices  :  and,  depend  upon  it, 
this  scheme  cannot  long  retard  you. 

"  I  speak  to  you  on  this  subject  as  a  lawyer — you  can  best  judge 
in  what  estimation  my  opinion  is  amongst  you;  but  such  as  it  is,  I 
pledge  it  to  you,  that  you  can  easily  obviate  the  present  obstacles  to 
the  registry  of  your  freeholds.  I  can  only  assure  you  that  the  con- 
stitution of  your  city  is  perfectly  free — that  the  sons  of  freemen,  and 
all  those  who  have  served  an  apprenticeship  to  a  freeman,  are  all 
entitled  to  their  freedom,  and  to  vote  for  the  representation  of  your 
city. 

"  I  can  tell  you  more  :  that  if  you  bring  your  candidate  to  a  poll, 
your  adversary  will  be  deprived  of  any  aid  from  non-resident  or 
occasional  freemen  ;  we  will  strike  off  his  list  the  freemen  from  Gort 
and  from  Galway,  the  freemen  from  the  band,  and  many  from  the 
battalion  of  the  city  of  Limerick  militia. 

In  short,  the  opening  of  the  borough  is  a  matter  of  little 
difficulty.  If  you  will  but  form  a  committee,  and  collect  funds, 
in  your  opulent  city,  yoii  will  soon  have  a  representative  ready 
to  obey  your  voice — you  cannot  want  a,  candidate.  If  the 
Emancipation  Bill  passes  next  session,  as  it  is  so  likely  to  do, 
and  that  no  other  candidate  offers,  I  myself  will  bring  your  pre- 
sent number  to  the  poll.  I,  probably,  will  have  little  chance  of 
success — but  I  will  have  the  satisfaction  of  showing  this  city  and 
(the  country  what  the  free-born  mind  might  achieve  if  it  were  pro 
perly  seconded." 

O'Connell  was  always  singularly  happy  in  his  allusions 
to  public  events  and  circumstances.  There  are  many  men 
who  can  allude  to  the  passing  topics  of  the  day  in  their 
public  speeches,  but  there  are  few  who  can  point  their  allu- 
sions like  O'Connell.    We  find  a  remarkable  instance  of 


FELICITOUS  EXPRESSION. 


327 


this  felicity  of  expression  and  of  application  at  the  con- 
clusiou  of  this  eloquent  address. 

Irish  soldiers  were  at  that  time  protecting  the  liberty  of 
England,  and  but  fur  Irish  soldiers  England  would  have 
been,  for  a  time  certainly,  if  not  permanently,  conquered 
by  French  valour.  O'Conuell  said,  "  I  wish  to  see  the 
strength  of  this  island — this  unconquered,  this  uncon- 
querable island — combined  to  resist  the  mighty  foe  of 
freedom,  the  extinguisher  of  civil  liberty,  who  rules  the 
Continent  from  St  Petersburg  to  the  verge  of  the  Irish 
bayonets  in  Spain." 

Those  who  know  Dublin  need  not  be  reminded  that 
Merrion  Square  was,  and  is,  one  of  its  most  fashionable 
residences.  O'Conneli's  professional  advancement  had 
already  justified  him  in  establishing  himself  there ;  and 
in  June  1811,  we  find  him  replying  from  thence  to  an 
address  which  was  sent  to  him  from  Dingle.  As  it  was 
one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  very  first,  of  the  addresses 
ever  presented  to  him,  we  insert  it  here. 

The  address  was  adopted  at  a  meeting  described  as  of 
"  the  clergy,  gentlemen,  magistrates,  and  freeholders  of  the 
town  and  vicinity  of  Dingle,  held  in  that  town  on  the  loth 
day  of  June  1811,  in  pursuance  of  public  requisition, 
Mathew  Moriarty,  Esq.,  in  the  chair,"  and  was  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  To  Daxil:l  O'Coxxell,  Esq. 
"  Sir, — We,  the  gentlemen,  clerjy,  magistrates,  and  freeholder* 


828 


ADDRESS  FROM  DINGLE. 


of  the  town  and  vicinity  of  Dingle,  assembled  pursuant  to  a  public 
requisition,  desire  to  express  to  you  our  sense  of  your  unwearied 
exertions  in  advocating  the  cause  of  our  Catholic  countrymen. 

"  We  are  particularly  anxious  to  convey  to  you  our  decided  ap- 
probation of  the  manliness,  candour,  and.  perspicuity  with  which 
you  have,  at  the  aggregate  meeting  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland, 
held  in  Dublin  on  the  28th  ultimo,  developed  the  tendency  of  the 
intended  transfer  of  our  militia,  and  displayed  the  machinations  of 
those  deluded  men  who  style  themselves  Orangemen  and  Purplemen. 

"  We  anticipate  from  your  exertion  of  talent  and  constitutional 
firmness  the  most  beneficial  consequences  ;  as  that  exertion  has,  we 
trust,  roused  to  the  consideration  of  these  subjects  every  individual 
who  feels  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  country,  from  the  prince 
to  the  freeholder. 

"Your  object  is  the  same  as  ours;  to  prevent  internal  feuds  and 
animosities,  which  have  been  hitherto  so  injurious  to  our  unfortunate 
country;  and  to  promote  that  unanimity  which  can  alone  save  and 
exalt  those  realms. 

"  We  request  of  you  to  accept  our  most  cordial  thanks  as  a  small 
tribute  of  merit  pre-eminently  resplendent  on  every  occasion. 

"  And  be  assured  that  it  has  made  an  indelible  impression  on  us  j 
who  repose  a  pleasing  confidence  in  your  exertions,  disregarding 
and  despising  party  feeling,  and  looking  to  the  cause  of  our  native 
country,  equally  dear  to  us  all. 

"  Signed,  by  order, 

"  Edward  Fitzgerald,  Secretary. 

"Dingle,  June  \5th,  1811." 

Mr  O'Connell's  reply  was  in  the  following  terms  :— 
"  Gentlemen, — Your  address  has  surprised  me  almost  as  much 
as  it  has  pleased  me.    I  cannot  but  owe  it  to  your  friendship,  that 
you  have  noticed  so  humble  an  individual.    I  am  proud  of  your 

approbation. 

"  The  principle  on  which  I  have  been,  and  am  an  advocate  of 
Catholic  Emancipation,  is  not  confined  to  Ireland.    It  embraces  the 


O'COXNELVS  REPLY. 


329 


cause  of  the  Dissenters  in  England,  and  of  the  Protestants  in  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  territories.  I  need  extend  it  no  further. 
The  crime  of  intolerance  is  now  confined  among  Christian  nations — 
almost  exclusively  to  England  and  her  allies.  Arbitrary  as  the 
military  ruler  of  the  French  may  be,  .and  enemy  as  he  is  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  he  has  had  too  much  common  sense  to  commit 
the  useless  and  absurd  injustice  of  violating  conscience. 

"  For  my  part,  I  hate  the  inquisition  as  much  as  I  do  the  Orange 
and  Purple  system,  and  for  the  same  reason.  The  man  who  attempts 
to  interfere  between  his  fellow-man  and  his  Deity  is,  to  my  mind, 
the  most  guilty  of  criminals. 

"■  JTou  call  our  country  unfortunate.  She  is  unfortunate  through 
the  dissension  of  her  children  ;  dissension  has  degraded  her  charac- 
ter, and  annihilated  her  constitution. 

"  In  the  name  of  religion,  of  charity,  hate  and  rancour  have  been 
disseminated  ;  but  a  brighter  era,  I  trust,  approaches.  And  now  it 
is  the  sacred  duty  of  every  man,  who  is  faithful  to  his  king  and 
attached  to  the  independence  of  his  native  land,  to  contribute  his 
best  exertions  to  extinguish  every  cause  of  animosity  and  pretence 
for  disunion. — -I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  great  respect,  your 
deeply  indebted  and  faithful  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"Mzbriok  Square,  June  17tk,  1S11." 

On  the  7th  of  May  1811,  a  dinner  was  given  by  the 
leading-  Catholics  to  some  of  their  Protestant  friends.  The 
Ehort  speech  made  by  O'Connell  on  that  occasion  was  fully 
reported,  and  we  give  it  unabridged.  At  a  time  when  a 
Catholic  Archbishop'  not  nnfrequently  presides,  and  very 

*  In  the  Standard  for  July  we  find  a  report  of  a  meeting  of  the  Inter- 
national Union  Congress,  in  the  Middle  Temple  Hall,  at  which  Arch- 
bishop Manning  took  the  chair.  There  were  some  remarks  made  by 
his  Grace  on  this  occasion  which  singularly  resemble  the  tone  and  spirit 


330    CATHOLICS  ENTERTAINING  PROTESTANTS. 


frequently  assists  at  Protestant  meetings,  we  may  well 
recall  with  regret  the  statement  of  O'Connell,  that  this 
was  "  Hie  first  time  when  Catholic  and  Protestants  publicly 
assembled  at  the  festive  board." 

"  Major  Bryan  proposed  the  health  of  Sir  James  Eiddall,  whose 
absence,  he  regretted,  was  from  indisposition.  To  this  toast  was 
added,  at  Counsellor  CConnell's  suggestion,  'The  Eepeal  of  the 
Union.'  "  Counsellor  O'Connell — 1  Gentlemen,  when  I  proposed  that 
a  Repeal  of  the  Union  should  be  coupled  with  the  name  of  that  virtu- 
ous patriot  and  friend  to  his  country,  Sir  James  Eiddall,  I  was  fully 
impressed  that  it  is  the  only  real  Irish  question ;  and,  allow  me  to 
Bay,  that  every  Catholic  in  this  meeting  must  regret  the  absence  of 
that  worthy  Irishman,  and  the  more  so,  as  I  understand  it  is  occa- 
sioned by  severe  illness.  If  in  this  assembly  any  Irishman  hears  me 
who  h  is  mistaken  the  true  interests  of  his  country  (as  Ave  all  are 
liable  ^o  err),  and  approved  of  that  fatal  law,  the  act  of  Legislative 
Unior,  this  is  a  glorious  opportunity  for  us  to  speak  our  sentiments, 
and,  by  deprecating  so  disastrous  a  measure,  convince  him  that  there 
is  but  one  opinion  on  the  subject  in  Ireland.  This,  I  believe,  is  the 
first  time  Catholics  and  Protestants  have  publicly  assembled  at  tka 


of  O'Connell's  speech  at  the  first  public  dinner  of  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants.   The  Archbishop  said  : — 

"  Before  we  thank  Dr  Bellows  for  the  fertile,  eloquent,  and  condensed 
address  which  he  has  delivered,  I  will  ask  you  to  bear  with  me  for  a 
moment,  as  I  am  irresistibly  impelled  to  make  one  or  two  remarks.  In 
mentioning  those  Avho  have  exercised  an  apostleship  of  charity  in  the 
work  of  mitigating  prison  discipline,  it  would  not  be  right  to  forget  the 
name  of  Elizabeth  Fry.  Our  lecturer  has  given  us  examples  of  two  of 
those,  great  energies,  those  masculine  activities  (Howard  and  Wesley), 
which  laboured  to  reform  and  purify  the  morals  of  men  in  the  last 
century ;  but  the  action  of  Mrs  Fry  was  like  the  light  of  heaven  and 
the  dew  fertilizing  the  earth,  silent,  irresistible,  penetrating,  and  effica- 
cious, even  beyond  the  power  of  energy." 


SPEECH  OX  THE  OCCASION. 


331 


festive  board — alas  !  the  first  time  we  have  sought  access  to  each 
other's  hearts.  If  such  meetings  shall  frequently  take  plav.e,  and  I 
trust  in  God  they  will,  it  is  impossible  that  your  great  and  ancient 
nation — your  nation  famed  for  every  physical  good  which  can  make 
existence  valuable,  and  which  has  given  birth  to  the  best  and  bravest 
of  the  human  race — it  is  impossible,  I  say,  that  any  minister  can 
tyrannise  over  you,  or  any  foe  eii'ect  your  subjugation.  If  the  spirit 
shall  go  abroad  which  pervades  this  meeting,  is  it  too  much  to  ex- 
pect that  your  enfranchisement  is  at  hand,  that  your  parliament 
must  be  restored  1  As  it  is  the  habit  of  men  who  follow  my  trade 
to  talk  much,  you  may,  perhaps,  fear  that  I  trespass  on  your  atten- 
tion ;  but  I  shall  be  brief.  A  bigot — be  he  of  what  profession  he 
may,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant ;  of  what  rank  soever,  whether 
monarch,  peer,  or  peasant  ;  whether  his  brow  is  encircled  with  a 
diadem,  or  his  body  enveloped  with  rags — is  a  bigot  to  me.  Louis 
XIV.  disgracefully  treated  a  brave  and  skilful  warrior,  Admiral 
Duchene,  because  he  was  a  Protestant  ;  and  Louis  XIV.  was,  there- 
fore, an  outrageous  bigot.  Our  gracious  prince,  who  is  the  parent  of 
his  Irish  people,  has  given  an  earnest  of  what  we  may  expect  from 
him,  by  refusing  to  comply  with  the  corrupt  requisition  of  a  minister; 
he  will  unite  us,  and  thereby  have,  instead  of  one  regiment  of  his 
own  Irish,  an  entire  nation.' " 

Vigorous  efforts  were  made  by  Government  to  suppress 
the  Catholic  Association  at  the  close  of  the  year  1811;  but 
O'Connell  had  inspired  a  spirit  and  vigour  into  the  nation 
which  was  not  easily  repressed. 

On  the  12th  February  1811,  the  signal  of  attack  was 
6ounded  by  Mr  Wellesley  Pole,  who  issued  a  circular  letter 
to  the  sheriffs  and  chief  magistrates,  in  which  the  Catholic 
Committee  was  denounced  as  "  an  unlawful  assembly  sit- 
ting in  Dublin."    They  were  required — 


THE  FIRST  COLLISION. 


"  In  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  an  Act  of  the  33rd  of  George 
IV.,  C.  29,  to  cause  to  be  arrested  and  commit  to  prison  (unless  bail 
shall  be  given)  all  persons  within  your  jurisdiction  who  shall  be  guilty 
of  giving,  or  having  given  or  published,  any  written  or  other  notice  of 
icction  or  appointment  in  any  manner  of  such  representative, 
delegate,  or  manager  as  aforesaid  ;  or  of  attending,  voting,  or  acting, 
or  of  having  attended,  voted,  or  acted  in  any  manner  in  the  choice 
or  appointment  of  such  representative,  delegate,  or  manager ;  and 
you  are  to  communicate  these  directions,  as  far  as  lies  in  your  power, 
forthwith  to  the  several  magistrates  of  the  said  county." 

The  Lord  Chancellor  said  "  the  language  was  put  to- 
gether in  a  slovenly  manner,"  but  Government  proclama- 
tions do  not  always  bear  literary  criticism.  Mr  Pole — or, 
to  speak  more  correctly,  his  master,  Mr  Perceval — meant 
action,  and  gave  a  very  significant  hint  to  that  effect  by 
sending  a  paper  to  each  person  to  whom  this  letter  was 
forwarded,  entitled,  u  Some  Observations  and  Extracts 
concerning  Arrests  of  Criminals."  The  "  Observations, 
Extracts,"  &c,  concluded  with  this  passage: — 

"As  at  thistime  the  attention  of  magistrates  must  naturally  be  chiefly 
turned  to  cases  of  a  seditious  nature,  some  extracts  from  the  several 
Acts  of  Parliament  made,  relative  to  such  offences,  are  herewith  sent." 

The  first  collision  took  place  on  the  23d  of  February, 
when  Alderman  Darley  and  Mr  Babington  presented  them- 
selves at  the  meeting. 

Lord  Ffrench  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Alderman 
Darley  at  once  announced  his  purpose : — 

"  My  lord,  we  are  come  as  magistrates  of  the  district  to 


ACTING   UXDER  ORDERS. 


333 


inquire  whether  the  persons  present  compose  the  Catholic 
Committee  ?" 

A  long  discussion  ensued.  Lord  Ffrench  would  not  com- 
mit himself,  and  demanded  Alderman  Darley's  authority. 
Alderman  Darley  fell  back  on  Government,  and  hoped  the 
meeting  "  would  he  so  good"  as  to  disperse  quietly. 

Mr  Lidwell,a  Protestant  gentleman,  declared  he  would  not 
leave  the  room  unless  removed  by  the  strong  hand  of  power. 

Lord  Ffrench  begged  to  be  allowed  the  honour  of  being 
the  last  man  to  leave  the  room,  and  declared  he  "  had  his 
night-cap  in  his  pocket,  and  did  not  care  where  he  went." 

After  much  discussion,  Mr  Darley  was  despatched  to  Mr 
Pole  for  positive  instructions,  and  Mr  Babington  remained 
in  custody  of  the  meeting,  and  the  meeting  in  custody  of 
Mr  Babington. 

Mr  Pole  performed  a  series  of  legal  somersaults.  He 
sent  back  his  unhappy  deputy  with  a  polite  message,  say- 
ing that  he  would  be  happy  to  see  Lord  Ffrench,  but  Lord 
Ffrench  refused  to  visit  him  alone.  Mr  Darley  then,  act- 
ing on  orders,  deliberately  denied  any  intention  of  dis- 
persing the  meeting,  if  they  had  only  assembled  to  petition 
Parliament  ;  although  he  had  stated,  on  his  first  appear- 
ance, and  in  pursuance  of  hi3  first  orders,  that  he  "  had 
been  ordered  and  directed  by  Government  to  request  them 
to  disperse,  be  their  business  what  it  may." 

Mr  AVellesley  Pole  then  endeavoured,  with  more  tact 
than  honesty,  to  make  it  appear  that  the  Catholic  Com- 


334     ADDRESS  TO  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 


mil  Ice  had  asked  for  an  interview  with  him,  the  reverse 
be  ins:  the  fact. 

On  llie  8th  of  March  the  Catholics  went  to  offer  an 
address  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  now  regent;  hut  in  tills 
address  they  took  care  to  express  their  disapprobation  of 
the  policy  of  Mr  Perceval,  who  was  the  unvarying  enemy 
of  Catholics.  The  following  gentlemen  were  to  present  the 
address: — Earls  Shrewsbury,  Fingal,  and  Kenmare ;  Vis- 
counts Gormanstown,  Netterville,  and  Southwell;  Lords 
Trimleston  and  Ffrench ;  Sirs  Thomas  Esmond,  Edward 
Bellew,  Hugh  O'Reilly,  Thomas  Burke,  and  Francis  Goold, 
Barts. ;  Major-General  O'Farrell ;  Colonel  Burke ;  Messrs 
G.  Bryan,  R.  M'Donnell,  D.  O'Connell,  J.  Keogh,  Owen 
O'Connor,  M.  Donnellan,  Edward  Corbally,  T.  Wynne, 
J.  Burke,  Wm.  C'oppinger,  Ambrose  J.  Roche,  Edward 
Murphy,  B.  W.  O'Reilly,  George  Browne,  E.  Taafle,  D. 
Caul  field. 

O'Connell  made  two  speeches  at  this  meeting,  from  which 
we  give  the  following  extracts  :• — 

"  I  shall  not  consume  the  time  of  this  meeting  by  entering  into 
an  explanation  of  our  motives  for  presenting  the  address  ;  and  I 
feel  it  would  be  a  reproach  to  adduce  any  argument  to  justify  a 
measure  so  anxiously  wished  for  by  the  Catholics  of  Ireland.  We 
owe  it  to  his  Royal  Highness  to  express,  with  heartfelt  gratitude,  our 
unfeigned  thanks  for  the  many  favours  and  benefits  conferred  on  us 
by  his  revered  father,  to  whom  we  are  perhaps  indebted  for  the  pri- 
vilege of  meeting  here  this  day.  Here  Mr  O'Connell  took  a  sum- 
mary view  of  the  political  state  and  incapacities  of  the  Catholics  at 


0'COXXELL:S  SPEECH. 


335 


the  accession  of  his  Majesty  to  the  throne,  when,  he  said,  they 
were  excluded  from  every  situation  of  trust,  honour,  and  emolument — 
when  the  then  existing  laws  sanctioned  the  breach  of  every  honour- 
able principle — when  there  was  hardly  a  grievance  or  degradation 
that  man  could  be  subject  to,  that  the  laws  did  not  inflict  on  the 
Catholics  of  Ireland.  Thus  stood  the  abominable  code  at  the  period 
of  his  Majesty's  accession,  and  such  hardships  and  slavery  did 
it  impose,  that  the  mind  cannot  contemplate  it  without  recoiling 
with  horror  and  disgust.  By  adverting  to  this  period  of  our  his- 
tory, he  did  not  wish  to  excite  religious  distinctions ;  he  did  not 
wish  to  rekindle  hatred  and  animosity  among  his  countrymen  ;  his 
motives  were  widely  different :  they  were  to  lay  before  the  meet- 
ing the  obligations  we  owed  to  his  Majesty  for  the  many  privi- 
leges which  the  Catholics  at  present  enjoy.  .  .  .  He  lamented 
that,  through  the  misguided  folly  of  our  rulers,  the  country  had 
already  suffered  too  much.  It  had  been  involved  in  deep  calamity 
ever  since  the  baneful  measure  of  Union  had  been  forced  upon  dis- 
tracted Ireland.  At  that  calamitous  period  the  argument  made  use 
of  by  the  Parliament  of  England,  for  withholding  from  the  Prince 
his  undoubted  right,  was,  that  by  appointing  him  Regent,  they  pre- 
ferred him  to  William  Pitt.  The  offence  given  to  the  Ministry  of 
the  present  times  seems  to  be,  that  the  people  prefer  his  Royal  High- 
ness to  the  usurper,  Perceval.  It  is  observable  that  the  moment 
the  Regent  was  appointed,  W.  W.  Pole  set  off  f.-r  Ireland,  to  misre- 
present the  Catholics  and  excite  discord.  He  (Mr  Pole)  seemed  to 
fear  that  in  the  liberal  mind  of  the  Prince  something  would  be 
found  that  would  drive  faction  out  of  its  fastness.  He  took  the 
most  decisive  measures  that  his  little  mind  could  suggest.  Although 
a  general  committee  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  had  been  established 
for  almost  eighty  years,  he  had  the  audacity  to  issue  his  proclama- 
tion, declaring  that  it  was  an  illegal  assembly,  and  that  the  meeting 
was  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanour.  He  thus  thought  proper  to 
pronounce  sentence  without  going  to  trial  ;  without  the  interposition 
of  any  judge.  He  said  he  acted  under  the  advice  of  a  judge,  vho  is 
not  a  native  of  ihis  couutiy,  ;ind  who  is,  therefore,  ignorant  of  the 


336 


O'CONNELL'S  SPEECH. 


Irish  character.  He  admitted  that  the  judge  was  an  accomplished 
gentleman  and  an  able  lawyer,  but  Irishmen  would  not  submit  to 
be  ruled  by  special  pleadings  and  English  technicality.  But  to 
return  to  the  subject  of  the  letter.  It  appears  that  it  was  the 
first  act  of  liis  Royal  Highness's  government  in  Ireland.  It  was 
the  ill-advised  measure  of  William  Wellesley  Pole,  the  secretary 
of  nil  ages.  We  know  it  could  not  have  emanated  from  his 
Royal  Highness.  As  for  Wellesley  Pole,  he  was  first  secretary  to  the 
King,  then  to  the  usurping  protector,  and  then  to  the  Eegent ;  but 
his  first  act  was  for  the  purpose  of  putting  up  the  Orange  party,  and 
dividing  Irishmen  ;  but  this  was  not  the  act  of  the  Prince  ;  his  con- 
fidential friends'  conduct,  in  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  is  a  sure 
pledge  that  what  appeared  as  the  first  act  of  his  regency  was  un- 
known to  him.  The  Earl  of  Moira  had  disavowed  the  act,  and  he 
was  not  only  a  friend  to  his  country,  but  he  was  the  friend  of  his 
Prince.  He  could  not  speak  in  terms  strong  enough  of  the  noble 
exertions  of  that  great  man  in  behalf  of  his  country ;  he  was  the 
true  patriot,  not  like  the  men  who  might  vote  for  the  Catholic 
petition.  He  would  disavow  them,  as  they  voted  at  the  side  of 
Perceval  against  their  Prince.  One  member  for  the  county  he  had 
belonged  to  had  done  so,  and  he  hoped  yet  to  meet  him  on  the 
hustings  to  express  the  contempt  he  felt  for  such  conduct.  How 
different  was  the  conduct  of  the  other  member  of  that  county  ;  he 
would  not  mention  him  by  name,  but  his  grateful  country  felt  his 
worth — the  Knight  of  Kerry."  7 

O'Connell's  second  speech  was  called  forth  by  a  declara- 
tion which  arose  relative  to  an  amendment  condemnatory 

7  What  Mr  Perceval's  opinion  and  policy  was,  is  sufficiently  evident 
from  the  not  very  elegantly-expressed  epistle  addressed  to  Lord  Eldon, 
25th  July  1811 : — "  I  should  be  prepared  to  advise  a  prosecution  against 
eueh  an  illegal  assembly,  even  if  I  had  more  doubts  as  to  its  illegality, 
because  I  feel  assured  that  if  the  Irish  Government  is  to  be  upheld  at 
all,  such  an  assembly  nosing  it  in  its  metropolis  cannot  be  endured  ;  and 


A  BOLD  STEP, 


337 


of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  then  Lord-Lieutenant.  It  was 
proposed  by  Major  Bryan,  and  was  opposed  on  the  ground 
of  inexpediency.  After  some  discussion  the  motion  was 
carried  in  a  modified  form.  It  prayed  for  inquiry  into  the 
circumstances  connected  with  Mr  Pole's  circular  letter, 
and  prayed  that  Mr  Pole  might  be  dismissed,  if  no  justi- 
fication could  be  found,  as  well  as  the  Duke  of  Richmond. 
It  was  certainly  a  bold  step,  the  boldest  ever  yet  taken  by 
Irish  Catholics.  Hitherto  they  had  submitted  in  silence  to 
every  oppression,  to  every  attempt  made  to  forbid  their 
calling  for  justice ;  for  such  was  the  mode  of  government 
in  Ireland,  that  it  was  forbidden  even  to  petition  against  a 
grievance,  or  for  the  removal  of  a  disability.  It  was  no 
wonder  that  the  growing  independence  of  the  nation 
startled  narrow-minded  statesmen,  who  were  enthusiastic 
admirers  of  liberty  everywhere  except  at  home. 

Mr  Perceval's  line  of  argument  was  curious,  but  not 
altogether  without  precedent  in  modern  times.  First  he 
6aid  he  would  be  prepared  to  advise  a  prosecution,  because 
the  assembly  was  illegal ;  then  he  said  he  would  equally 
order  it,  even  if  he  had  only  "doubts  "  as  to  its  illegality; 
and  then  he  declared  he  would  not  have  these  men — men  who 

that  the  prosecution  will  bring  the  question  to  a  fair  issue  ;  for,  if  the 
law  is  not  at  present  strong  enough  to  prevent  it,  it  must  be  made  so.  And 
I  have  no  doubt  that  if  we  take  our  measures  wisely  (that  is,  upon  full 
proof  that  the  assembly  is  truly  revolutionary,  however  its  title  may  be 
disguised),  Parliament  will  see  the  necessity  of  putting  it  down." — 
Twtis's  Life  of  Lord  Eldon. 

y 


8     CONVENIENT,  IF  NOT  STRICTLY  JUST. 


were  many  of  them  of  the  first  families  in  Ireland — "  nosing 
it,"  whatever  that  might  mean,  in  the  Dublin  metropolis; 
then  he  said  that  the  prosecution  would  bring  the  question  to 
a  "  fair  issue,"  and  what  a  fair  issue  means  when  Government 
is  on  one  side  and  the  Irish  people  on  the  other,  is  tolerably 
well  known  even  at  the  present  day  ;  finally,  by  way  of 
exordium,  he  came  to  the  real  pith  and  marrow  of  the 
matter,  and  declared  that,  if  the  affair  was  not  illegal,  which 
he  manifestly  doubted,  then  it  must  be  made  illegal.  This 
plan  of  making  a  law  to  make  an  act  illegal,  after  the  act 
had  been  accomplished,  was  exceedingly  convenient,  if  it 
was  not  strictly  just.  Mr  Perceval's  politics  being  such,  it 
would  scarcely  be  expected  that  the  Irish  Catholic  nobility 
and  gentlemen,  who  were  the  objects  of  his  peculiar  mode 
of  legislation,  should  be  very  ardent  admirers  of  his  policy. 
In  his  second  speech  O'Connell  said  : — 

"  I  declare,  most  unaffectedly,  that  my  feelings  are  much  inter- 
ested in  the  fate  of  this  question.  On  the  one  hand,  if  the  motion 
shall  pass,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  some  of  our  best  friends  may  take 
offence  at  it;  on  the  other,  should  it  not  be  acceded  to,  it  may 
encourage  a  supposition  that  we  are  prepared  to  submit  to  every 
species  of  insult  without  expressing  our  just  indignation.  A  noble 
lord  and  two  other  gentlemen  have  spoken  against  it,  whose  hosti- 
lity to  any  measure,  in  a  Catholic  meeting,  must  be  considered  as 
almost  fatal  to  that  measure ;  but  in  this  case  it  will  be  forgotten, 
at  a  future  day,  what  course  of  argument  they  pursued,  when  their 
opposition  to  the  measure  will  be  remembered.  No  gentleman  has, 
however,  thought  of  praising  Mr  Pole,  although  some  eulogised  the 
Lord-Lieutenant ;  none  has  been  so  bold  as  to  attempt  that  which 


0' COXS ELL  OX  WELLIXGTOX. 


^39 


would  rack  and  exhaust  invention  to  make  it  palatable.  Xo,  sir ; 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  squander  the  public  money  in  pur- 
chasing the  labours  of  hireling  prints,  and  their  depraved  parasites* 
to  bestow  diplomatic  wisdom  on  Mr  Pole,  and  military  skill  on  the 
redoubtable  Lord  Wellington.8  ....  Any  man  who  could  accept 
offices  under  a  Perceval  Ministry  cannot  be  friendly  to  your  eman- 
cipation. The  Duke  of  Richmond  came  here  as  a  military  lord- 
lieutenant,  ami  I  suppose  Mr  Pole  as  a  military  secretary,  expecting, 
in  all  probability,  that  a  display  of  their  talents  might  at  some  time 
be  essential,  and  particularly  amongst  the  Catholics,  as  if  we  could  be 
hostile  to  an  army  composed  entirely  of  such.  The  career  of  his 
Excellency's  life  has  been  a  harmless  one  ;  he  is  fond  of  amusement 


8  O'Connell  was  no  great  admirer  of  the  Iron  Duke.  In  the  first 
place,  he  believed  that  he  encouraged  the  Orange  faction  for  political 
purposes  ;  in  the  second  place,  he  despised  him  for  his  declaration,  that 
the  only  misfortune  of  his  life  was  his  being  an  Irishman  ;  and  he  de- 
served to  be  despised  for  it.  O'Connell  spoke  thus  of  him  to  Mr  Daunt: 
— "  I  have  two  faults  to  find  with  him — one  is,  that  I  never  yet  heard 
of  his  promoting  any  person  in  the  army  from  mere  merit,  unless  backed 
by  some  interest ;  the  second  fault  is,  that  he  lias  declared  that  the  only 
misfortune  of  his  life  is  his  being  an  Irishman.  There  is  a  meanness, 
a  paltriness  in  this,  incompatible  with  greatness  of  soul.  But  abstract- 
edly from  sentiment,  he  may  be  right  enough  ;  for,  great  as  his  popu- 
larity and  power  have  been  in  England,  I  have  no  doubt  they  would 
have  been  infinitely  greater  if  he  had  been  an  Englishman.  John 
Bull's  adoration  would  have  been  even  more  intense  and  devoted  if  the 
idol  had  not  been  a  Paddy." 

On  another  occasion  O'Connell  said  that  he  had  in  his  possession  an 
original  letter  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  eldest  brother,  Marquis 
Wellesley,  addressed  to  Mr  Mockler  of  Trim,  in  reply  to  an  applica- 
tion which  Mockler  had  made  to  the  writer  (who  was  then  Earl  of 
Mornington)  to  procure  a  commission  in  the  army  for  his  son.  The 
brother  of  the  future  victor  of  Waterloo  apologises  to  Mockler  for  his 
inability  to  assist  him,  saying,  "  that  commissions  were  so  hard  to  be 
got,  that  his  brother  Arthur's  name  had  been  two  years  upon  tiu:  list, 
and  he  had  not  yet  got  an  appointment" 


340 


TWO  EVILS  TO  BE  DEPRECATED. 


and  the  convivial  circle  ;  but  I  am  not  sure  that  the  qualities  are  such 
as  the  government  of  Ireland  needs  at  this  moment,  and  I  defy  his 
panegyrists  to  produce  any  others.  It  has  been  said  that  the  Orange- 
men  are  put  down,  but  what  proof  have  we  for  it  ?  I  have  been 
informed  that  a  new  Orange  constitution  has  been  framed  within 
the  last  eighteen  months ;  if  this  be  true,  to  what  a  state  will  not 
this  country  be  again  reduced.  Nothing  can  be  more  deplorable 
than  any  association  which  has  a  tendency  to  divide  Irishmen. 
5Tes,  there  is  to  us  one  thing  more  deplorable ;  and  that  is  any 
measure  which  may  create  division  among  Catholics." 

lie  concluded  by  an  earnest  appeal  to  Catholics  not  to 
divide  on  matters  of  little  importance.  "  Sir,"  he  ex- 
claimed, "  what  a  victory  it  will  be  to  your  enemies  to  put 
one  Catholic  name  against  another  when  you  divide."  To 
promote  union  amongst  all  classes  of  Irishmen  was  one  of 
the  great  objects  of  O'ConnelPs  life  ;  but  he  desired, 
above  all,  to  promote  union  between  Catholics.  His  mind 
was  sufficiently  large  to  grasp  the  difficulties  and  misap- 
prehensions of  others.  He  knew  perhaps  better  than  any 
man  living  then,  and  perhaps  better  than  any  man  who 
has  lived  since,  how  fatally  Catholic  principles,  both  reli- 
gious and  political,  are  compromised  by  dissensions. 

Those  who  are  without  the  pale  of  the  Church  cannot 
understand  the  political  divisions  of  those  who  are  one  in 
faith.  A  little  more  consideration,  or  a  little  less  pre- 
judice, might  show  how  these  divisions,  so  far  from  derogat- 
ing- from  unity  of  faith  on  religious  subjects,  rather  enhance 
it ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  find  men  entirely  free  from  prejudice, 
or  of  sufficiently  comprehensive  intellect  to  understand 


FREEDOM  OF   WORSHIP   DEMANDED.  341 


the  intellectual  peculiarities  of  others.  Men  who  would 
have  gone  to  the  stake  or  the  scaffold  together  joyfully 
for  the  faith,  because  it  was  one,  would  not  perhaps  salute 
each  other  on  the  street  because  they  had  political  dif- 
ferences. 

This  explains  what  appears  phenomenal  to  Protestants ; 
and  it  explains  why,  when  the  faith  is  attacked,  men  who 
have  been  hitherto  disunited,  unite  at  once  in  its  defence. 

The  Catholics  were  left  unmolested  for  a  time  ;  but  an- 
other attempt  was  made  to  dissolve  the  Catholic  Commit- 
tee at  the  close  of  the  year.  It  was,  as  we  have  said,  the 
great  effort  of  Government.  A  meeting  was  held  on  the 
9th  of  July  in  Fishamble  Street  Theatre,  at  which  Lord 
Fingal  took  the  chair. 

The  following  were  some  of  the  resolutions  then  pro- 
posed : — 

"That  being  impressed  with  an  unalterable  conviction  of  its  being 
the  undoubted  right  of  every  man  to  worship  bis  Creator  according 
to  the  genuine  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  we  deem  it  our  duty, 
publicly  and  solemnly,  to  declare  our  decided  opinion  and  principle, 
that  no  Government  can,  with  justice,  inflict  any  pains,  penalty,  or 
privation  upon  any  man  for  professing  that  form  of  Christian  faith 
which  he,  in  his  conscience,  believes. 

"  That  we  shall,  therefore,  persevere  in  petitioning  the  Legislature 
for  a  total  and  unqualified  repeal  of  the  penal  laws,  which  aggrieve 
and  degrade  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 

*'  That  in  exercising  this  undoubted  right  by  petitioning,  we  shall 
continue  to  adhere  to  the  ancient  principles  of  the  constitution,  and 
to  conform  also  to  the  peculiar  restrictions  which,  by  modern 
Statutes,  are  imposed  on  the  people  of  Ireland." 


3X2 


A   TRIUMPH  TO  THE  CATHOLICS. 


Lt  was  but  the  echo  of  the  cry  which  had  been  uttered 
for  so  many  hundred  years  in  Ireland — "  Freedom  to  wor- 
ship God."  When  the  demand  was  pealed  forth  in  the 
harmonious  numbers  of  a  poet's  verse,  it  called  forth  tears 
of  sympathy.  It  was  very  much  admired  when  chanted 
by  the  "  Pilgrim  Fathers,"  but  when  it  was  uttered  across 
the  channel,  it  was  sternly  silenced. 

Proceedings  were  commenced  against  several  of  the 
gentlemen  who  had  attended  the  meeting,  but  the  meet- 
ing was  perfectly  legal,  and  after  a  trial,  which  lasted  two 
days,  Dr  Sheridan,  who  was  first  arraigned,  was  acquitted. 
This  was  a  triumph  to  the  Catholic  party,  who  were  long 
accustomed  to  verdicts  which  were  certainly  not  founded 
on  evidence. 

An  attempt  was  then  made  to  bring  an  action  against 
Chief- Justice  Downes,  who  had  signed  the  warrant  for  the 
arrest  of  this  gentleman,  but  it  was  wisely  permitted  to 
drop.  The  whole  question  had  turned  on  a  word  in  the 
Convention  Act.  Catholics  were  forbidden  to  assemble 
"  under  pretence  of  petitioning,"  the  real  object  being  to 
prevent  Catholics  from  meeting  in  public,  as  a  body,  for 
any  purpose  whatsoever.  The  Catholic  Committee  were 
meeting  for  the  purpose  of  petitioning,  as  every  one  knew— 
none  better  than  their  enemy,  Mr  Perceval ;  but  it  answered 
the  purpose  of  the  prosecution  to  declare  that  they  did  not 
mean  what  they  said.  And  then  he  asserted  that  a  pur* 
pose,  as  well  as  a  pretence,  was  implied  by  the  Act, 


G 0  VER  NMEN T  INTERFERENCE.  343 

though  the  Act  did  not  say  so;  and  the  Crown  counsel 
was  not  a  little  disappointed  when  the  traverser  was 
acquitted.* 

But  the  Government  were  not  satisfied,  and  at  a  meet- 
ing held  immediately  after  the  acquittal  of  Dr  Sheridan, 
Lord  Fingal  was  forcibly  ejected  from  the  chair.  The 
proceedings  were  thus  reported  in  the  Freeman's  Journal: — 

"  A  few  minutes  before  twelve  o'clock  yesterday,  Counsellor 
Hare,  a  police  magistrate,  entered  the  theatre,  Fisliamble  Street, 
where  the  Catholic  Committee  were  assembled,  and  took  his  station 
beside  the  chair  which  was  prepared  for  the  reception  of  Lord 
Fingal. 

"  At  two  minutes  after  twelve  his  lordship  arrived  ;  and,  upon 
the  motion  of  Counsellor  Hussey.  seconded  by  Counsellor  O'Connell, 
he  was  called  to  the  chair. 

''Mr  Hare  was  about  to  address  Lord  Fingal,  when  Lord  Netter- 
ville  stood  up,  and  moved  that  the  Catholic  petition  be  now  read, 
which  was  seconded  by  Counsellor  O'Gorman. 

u  Mr  Hare  now  addressed  himself  to  Lord  Fingal,  evidently  with 
a  determination  to  prevent  the  reading  of  the  petit  ion,  and  persevered 
until  he  had  accomplished  this  object. 

"Mr  Hare.  —  My  Lord  Fingal,  I  beg  to  state  what  my  object  is 
in  coming  to  this  meeting.  As  chairman  of  this  meeting,  I  have  to 
inform  you.  that  I  come  here,  as  a  magistrate  of  the  city  of  Dublin, 
by  direction*  Cj  the  Lord-Lieutenant  (his  Excellency  having  been 
informed  that  this  is  a  meeting  of  the  Catholic  Committee,  com- 
posed of  the  peers,  prelates,  country  gentlemen,  and  the  persons 


B  "  The  law  pronounces  every  Catholic  to  be  faithless,  disloyal,  un- 
principled, and  disposed  to  equivocate  upon  his  oath  until  he  shall  have 
repelled  this  presumption  by  his  sworn  evidence  [and  even  then  he  wai 
seldom  believed]  in  public  court." — Ftnal  Laws,  p. 


344 


MR  HARE  AND  LORD  FINGAL. 


chosen  in  the  different  parishes  of  Dublin).  I  beg  to  ask  you,  aa 
chairman  of  this  meeting,  if  that  be  the  case,  and  what  is  your 

object  ? 

"  Lord  Fingal. — Sir,  we  have  met  here  for  a  legal  and  constitu- 
tional purpose. 

"  Mr  Hare. — Allow  me  to  observe,  that  that  is  not  an  answer  to 
my  question  ; — perhaps  you  did  not  distinctly  hear  me.  I  ask,  is 
it  a  meeting  of  the  Catholic  Committee,  composed  of  the  peers,  pre- 
lates, country  gentlemen,  and  others  in  the  city  of  Dublin  % 

"Lord  Fingal. — I  certainly  do  not  feel  myself  bound  to  give  you 
any  other  answer.  We  are  met  for  the  sole  legal  and  constitutional 
purpose  of  petitioning. 

"  Mr  Hare. — My  Lord,  I  ask  you,  as  chairman  of  this  meeting,  in 
what  capacity  are  you  met  ? 

"  Lord  Fingal.— We  are  met  for  the  purpose  of  petitioning  Par- 
liament. 

"  Mr  Hare. — My  Lord,  that  is  not  an  answer  to  my  question.  I 
speak  deliberately  and  distinctly,  in  order  that  every  person  may 
hear  and  understand  me.  (Here  some  little  confusion  occurred, 
owing  to  several  persons  speaking  together.)  Mr  Hare. — I  hope 
I  have  leave  to  speak.  ('  Hear  the  magistrate,*  from  several  per- 
sons.) I  beg  leave  to  ask  your  lordship  again,  is  it  a  meeting  of  the 
Catholic  Committee,  constituted  by  the  Catholic  peers,  prelates, 
country  gentlemen,  and  the  persons  appointed  in  the  different 
parishes  of  Dublin  ? 

"  Lord  Fingal.— I  am  not  aware  that  I  can  give  you  any  other 
answer  than  that  which  I  have  already  given. 

"  Mr  Hare. — Then,  my  Lord,  your  answer  is,  that  you  are  a  meet- 
ing of  Catholics,  assembled  for  a  legal  and  constitutional  purpose  % 

"  From  several  voices. — No,  no  ;  there  was  no  answer  given  in 
such  terms. 

"  Counsellor  O'Connell.— It  is  a  most  unusual  thing  for  any 
magistrate  to  come  into  a  public  meeting  to  catechise,  ask  questions, 
and  put  his  own  construction  upon  the  answers. 


MR  HARE  AXD  LORD  FIXGAL. 


345 


"Mr  Hare. — My  Lord,  am  I  to  understand  that  you  decline 
answering  me  fully  what  meeting  you  are,  and  the  purpose  of  your 
meeting  I 

"Lord  FingaL — We  are  met  for  a  legal  and  constitutional 
purpose. 

"  Mr  Hare. — I  wish  to  be  distinctly  understood  :  I  have 
addressed  your  lordship  explicitly  two  or  three  times.  Am  I  to 
understand  that  you  will  give  no  other  answer  to  my  question  ?  Do 
you  give  no  other  answer  ?  (Here  some  confusion  arose,  in  conse- 
quence of  several  persons  speaking  together — some  crying  out  to 
have  the  petition  read,  others  calling  on  Mr  Hay,  and  others  re- 
quiring silence  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  Counsellor  Hare.) 

"  Mr  Hare. — My  Lord  Fingal,  I  addressed  myself  to  you  so  dis- 
tinctly, that  I  thought  my  question  could  not  be  mistaken.  I  con- 
sider your  declining  to  give  me  a  direct  answer,  as  an  admission  that 
this  is  the  committee  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 

"Counsellor  O'Connell — I  beg  leave  to  say,  that  as  what  passes 
here  may  be  given  in  evidence,  the  magistrate  has  received  a  distinct 
answer  to  his  question  ;  and  it  is  not  for  him  to  distort  any  answer 
he  has  received  into  a  meaning  of  his  own — he  is  to  take  words  in 
their  literal  signification. 

"  Mr  Hare. — My  Lord,  I  consider  your  refusing  to  give  any  other 
answer  as  an  admission  of  the  fact  of  this  being  a  Catholic  Com- 
mittee. 

"Counsellor  O'Connell. — Sir,  if  you  please  to  tell  gentlemen  such 
k  your  belief,  it  is  of  no  consequence  to  us  :  we  are  not  to  be  bound 
by  your  opinion. 

M  Mr  Hare. — This  is  an  admission  of  the  fact  that  this  is  the 
Catholic  Committee  ;  and  I  consider  your  lordship's  refusal  

"  (Here  the  meeting  was  interrupted  by  the  confusion  incidental 
to  a  number  of  persons  speaking  together.) 

"  Mr  Hare. — Does  your  lordship  deny  that  this  is  the  Catholic 
Committee  ] 

"  Counsellor  Finn. — No,  no  :  my  Lord  Fingal  has  not  given  you 
either  admission  or  denial 


ARREST  OF  LORD  FINGAL. 


"  Counsellor  O'Connell. — We  do  not  want  the  gentleman's  assist* 
ance  to  make  out  meanings  for  us.  Let  him  not  imagine  that  the 
character  of  this  meeting  can  be  affected,  or  that  he  can  bind  thia 
meeting,  by  any  assertion  he  thinks  proper  to  make. 

"Mr  Hare. — Then  I  repeat  that  your  lordship's  refusal  to  give 
me  a  direct  answer  is  an  admission  that  this  meeting  is  the  Catholic 
Committee,  and,  as  such,  it  is  an  unlawful  assembly. 

k'  Counsellor  O'Connell. — Mr  Hare  is  now  speaking  in  his  magis- 
terial capacity,  therefore,  whatever  he  says  give  it  attention. 

"  Mr  Hare. — My  Lord,  I  say  that  this  is  an  unlawful  assembly, 
and,  as  such,  I  require  it  to  disperse.  I  beg  leave  to  say,  that  it  ia 
my  wish  to  discharge  my  duty  in  as  mild  a  manner  as.  possible.  I 
hope  that  no  resistance -will  be  offered,  and  that  I  need  not  have  re- 
course to  those  means  with  which  I  am  entrusted  for  the  purpose  of 
causing  the  meeting  to  disperse. 

"  Lord  Fingal. — It  is  not  our  intention  to  do  anything  improper, 
or  to  act  in  resistance  to  the  laws  of  the  land ;  but  it  is  my  deter- 
mination not  to  leave  the  chair  until  I  am  obliged  by  some  person 
to  do  so,  in  order  that  I  may  bring  my  legal  action  against  the 
person  who  shall  remove  me. 

"  Mr  Hare. — My  lord,  I  shall  remove  you  out  of  the  chair ;  and 
in  doing  so,  it  will  be  an  actual  arrest. 

"  Here,  as  might  be  naturally  expected,  some  confusion  arose,  in 
consequence  of  a  noise  in  the  gallery,  which,  we  are  informed,  waa 
occasioned  by  police  constables. 

"  Mr  Hare.— My  Lord,  if  you'll  have  the  goodness  to  leave  the 
chair,  that  is  a  legal  arrest. 

"  He  then  took  Lord  Fingal  by  the  arm  and  gently  pushed  him 
from  the  chair. 

"  On  the  motion  of  Counsellor  0' Gorman,  seconded  by  Dr  Luby, 
Lord  Netterville  was  immediately  called  to  the  chair,  from  which  he 
was  removed  by  Counsellor  Hare,  in  the  same  way  that  he  had  put 
Lord  Fingal  out  of  it. 

"  There  was  then  a  universal  cry  for  Lord  Ffrench  to  take  the 
chair.    His  lordship,  who  was  in  a  bad  state  of  health,  either  had 


AX  AGGREGATE  MEETIXG  PROPOSED.  347 


not  arrived,  or  was  not  within  hearing  of  those  who  culled  him  to 
the  chair. 

u  The  Hon.  Mr  Barn  wall  was  then  called  to  the  chair  ;  but  before 
he  had  taken  it,  Lord  Ffrench  had  arrived,  and  was  proceeding  to 
his  post,  when,  at  the  recommendation  of  Sir  Edward  Bellew,  and 
at  half-past  twelve  o'clock,  the  meeting  dispersed. 

11  After  the  Catholic  meeting  had  been  dispersed  in  Fishamble 
Street,  a  number  of  gentlemen  repaired  to  Mr  D'Arcy's,  the  Crown 
and  Anchor  Tavern,  Earl  Street,  for  the  purpose  of  signing  a  requi- 
eition  to  call  an  aggregate  meeting  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 
While  the  requisition  was  preparing,  Counsellor  Hare,  accompanied 
by  Alderman  Darley,  went  into  the  room  where  they  were  assembled, 
and  asked  whether  that  meeting  was  a  meeting  of  individual  gentle- 
men. Being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  being  about  to  make  a 
speech,  Lord  Ffrench  told  him  they  did  not  want  to  hear  any  of  his 
speeches,  nor  would  they  listen  to  them ;  if  he  came  there  for  the 
purpose  of  acting,  that  he  must  proceed  without  delay. 

M  Mr  Hare  said  that  he  merely  wished  to  say,  that  as  they  had 
acknowledged  themselves  to  be  a  meeting  of  individual  gentlemen,  he 
would  not  molest  them." 

"A  Catholic  requisition,  for  an  aggregate  meeting,  to  be  held  on 
Thursday  next,  at  the  Theatre,  Fishamble  Street,  has  been  drawn  up 
and  signed  by  upwards  of  three  hundred  persons. 

"  We  have  just  learned  that  Lord  Fingal  interrogated  the  police 
magistrates  after  the  dispersion  of  the  committee,  if  he  was  to  pro- 
cure bail  to  their  arrest,  and  that  they  deny  having  arrested  him/" 

Although  news  did  not  travel  with  telegraphic  speed  at 
that  period,  the  dispersion  of  the  meeting,  and  LordFingal's 
arrest,  was  soon  known  through  the  country.  It  was  known 
also  in  many  English  cities,  where  the  truth  was  told  by  the 
poet  Shelley,  who  was  present  at  the  meeting.     There  were 


SHELLEY  AND  EMANCIPATION. 


Englishmen  even  then,1  as  there  are,  thank  God,  still,  and 
happily  their  number  is  increasing,  who  are  capable  of 
viewing  Irish  subjects  from  a  just  stand-point,  who  do  not 
form  their  opinions  on  the  illogical  basis  that  everything 
English  must  be  right,  and  everything  Irish  wrong. 

When  Grattan  presented  the  Catholic  petition  on  the  31st 
of  May  1811,  he  did  his  best,  in  one  of  his  noblest  and  ablest 
speeches,  to  convince  English  senators  that  it  was  possible 
for  them  to  err.  He  told  them  that  they  expected  "the 
Author  of  the  universe  to  subvert  His  laws,  to  ratify  their 
statutes  ; "  God  had  commanded  us  to  revere  our  parents, 
English  law  commanded  and  encouraged  the  Irish  son  to 
claim  his  father's  estate.    "  The  decalogue  said,  6  Do  not 

1  Shelley  wrote  "  Proposals  for  an  Association  of  Philanthropists,"  for 
the  amelioration  of  Ireland.  He  said — "  It  is  my  opinion  that  the  claims 
of  the  Catholic  inhabitants  of  Ireland,  if  gained  to-morrow,  would  in  a 
very  small  degree  aggrandise  their  liberty  or  happiness.  The  disquali- 
fications  principally  affect  the  higher  orders  of  the  Catholic  persuasion  ; 
these  would  chiefly  be  benefited  by  their  removal.  Power  and  wealth 
do  not  benefit,  but  injure  the  cause  of  freedom  and  virtue.  I  am  happy, 
however,  at  the  near  approach  of  this  emancipation, because  I  am  inimical 
to  all  disqualifications  for  opinion.  It  will  not  add  one  comfort  to  the 
cottager — will  snatch  not  one  from  the  dark  dungeon — will  root  out  not 
one  vice- alleviate  not  one  pang.  Yet  it  is  a  foreground  of  a  picture  in 
the  dimness  of  whose  distance  I  behold  the  lion  lie  down  with  the 
lamb,  and  the  infant  play  with  the  basilisk  ;  for  it  supposes  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  eyeless  monster— bigotry,  whose  throne  has  tottered  for 
20D  years.  I  hear  the  teeth  of  the  palsied  beldam  Superstition  chatter, 
and  I  see  her  descending  to  the  grave.  Reason  points  to  the  open  gates 
of  th«  temple  of  religious  freedom  ;  philanthropy  kneels  at  the  altar  of 
the  common  God.  1  regard  the  admission  of  the  Catholic  claims,  and 
the  Repeal  of  the  Union  Act  as  blossoms  of  that  fruit,  which  the  summei 


THE  IRISHMAN  AND  ENGLISH  LAW.  349 


steal,'  the  law,  as  made  for  Ireland,  proclaimed  full  per- 
mission to  rob  a  Catholic." 

English  law  cruelly  oppressed  the  Irish  nation,  yet 
English  law  continued  to  oppress  it  "  under  the  vain 
assurance  that  Providence  would  work  a  miracle  in  the 
constitution  of  human  nature,  and  dispose  it  to  repay 
injustice  with  affection,  and  oppression  with  cordial  sup- 
port." 

The  Irishman  was  to  be  eminently  loyal,  but  he  was  not 
to  have  the  benefit  of  law ;  he  was  to  be  an  ardent  up- 
holder of  the  constitution,  but  he  was  not  to  be  upheld  by 
it;  he  was  to  rally  round  the  throne  when  it  was  in 
danger,  but  he  was  never  to  see  the  face  of  the  sovereign. 

sun  of  improved  intellect  and  progressive  virtue  are  destined  to  mature. 
I  will  not  pass  -without  reflection  the  Legislative  Union  between  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  ;  nor  will  I  speak  of  it  as  a  grievance  so  tolerable 
or  unimportant  in  its  nature  as  that  of  Catholic  disqualification.  The 
latter  affects  few,  the  Union  affects  thousands  ;  the  one  disqualifies 
the  rich  from  power,  the  other  impoverishes  the  peasant,  adds  beggary 
to  the  city,  famine  to  the  country,  multiplies  abjectness,  whilst  misery 
and  crime  play  into  each  others  hands  under  its  withering  auspices.  1 
esteem,  then,  the  annihilation  of  this  second  grievance  as  something 
more  than  a  mere  sign  of  good.  I  esteem  it  to  be  in  itself  a  substantial 
benefit.  The  aristocracy  of  Ireland  (much  as  I  disapprove  of  other  dis- 
tinctions than  those  of  virtue  and  talent,  I  consider  it  useless,  hasty,  and 
violent  not  for  the  present  to  acquiesce  in  their  continuance) — the  aiis- 
tocracy  }f  Ireland  suck  the  veins  of  its  inhabitants,  and  consume  that 
blood  in  England." 

If  we  did  not  know  the  power  of  prejudice  in  transmuting  ideas,  it 
would  seem  wonderful,  and  almost  incomprehensible,  how  persons  with 
ordinary  common  sense  could  fail  to  see  the  real  cause  of  Irish  poverty 
and  Irish  discontent. 


FATHER  DAN  HOG  AN. 


A  tithe  of  justice  was  flung  to  him  now  and  then,  politi- 
cal or  religious,  as  might  be  most  convenient  or  least  in- 
convenient to  those  who  made  the  laws  which  they  expect 
him  to  revere;  and  when  he  got  this  tithe,  pitiful  as  it 
was,  lie  was  expected  to  break  forth  into  paaans  of  praise 
and  thanksgiving  for  the  generosity  of  his  master.  If 
those  thanksgivings  are  not  uttered,  he  is  pointed  out  as 
a  monster  of  ingratitude  ;  if  he  suggests  that  he  has  only 
obtained  a  small  instalment  of  justice,  that  justice  is 
justice,  and  that  he  would  like  to  have  a  little  more  of  it, 
he  is  told  that,  as  he  is  not  thankful  for  what  has  been  given 
to  him,  he  does  not  deserve  more. 

When  O'Connell  went  on  circuit  in  January  1812,  he 
tried  to  rouse  up  the  spirit  of  the  country.  His  presence 
was,  indeed,  looked  for  in  each  of  the  southern  towns 
which  he  visited  as  a  signal  for  public  action.  He  was 
always  specially  welcomed  in  Limerick.  On  his  first  pro- 
fessional visit  to  that  city  in  1798,  the  late  Mr  James 
Blackwell,  then  gaoler  of  the  city  prison,  retained  his 
services  for  some  of  the  criminals,  and  it  is  said  his  first 
actual  practice  at  the  bar  was  there. 

During  his  visit  to  Limerick,  O'Connell  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  well-known  Franciscan  friar,  Father  Dan 
Hogan.  The  Franciscans  had  been  always  remarkable  for 
erecting  bell-towers,  and  the  good  friar  was  no  exception  to 
the  general  devotion  of  his  order  in  Ireland.  But  at  this 
time  the  penal  laws  forbade  Catholics  even  the  use  of  an 


THE  FIRST  CATHOLIC  BELL. 


351 


ordinary  bell.1  Father  Dan,  however,  was  determined  to 
have  a  bell,  and  consulted  (VConnell  as  to  how  the 
matter  could  be  arranged  without  violating  the  law.  It 
was  precisely  the  kind  of  subject  in  which  O'Connell  took 
the  warmest  interest.  He  told  Father  Hogan  that  lie  might 
erect  a  cupola  at  the  gable  of  his  own  house  and  have  a  bell 
there,  and  the  friar  was  not  long  in  carrying  out  the  plan. 

*  "  Limerick  :  its  History  and  Antiquities" by  Maurice  Lenihan,  Esq., 
J.P.M.R.T.A.,  page  420.  This  is  a  work  of  great  value  and  importance, 
and  should  be  in  even'  library.  We  give  some  extracts  from  a  letter 
written  by  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  to  Brigadier-General  Lee,  on  the  state 
of  Limerick  in  1808.  This  shows  how  thoroughly  he  understood 
the  country.  The  letter  is  dated  Cork,  7th  July  1808.  It  com- 
mences by  explaining  the  duties  of  a  general  officer  commanding  a 
district  in  Ireland,  and  shows  how  entirely  the  country  was  under 
military  government.  "  In  the  first  place,  the  situation  of  a  general 
officer  commanding  a  district  in  Ireland  is  very  much  of  the  nature  of 
a  deputy-governor  of  a  county  or  a  province.  .  .  .  The  Government  must 
depend  in  his  reports  and  opinions  for  the  adoption  of  many  measures 
relating  solely  to  the  civil  administration  of  the  country.  It  is  the  duty 
of  every  government  officer  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  local 
circumstances  of  his  district,  and  with  the  characters  of  the  different 
inuividuals  residing  within  it."  He  then  proceeds  to  warn  his  corres- 
pondent of  "certain  circumstances  which  exist  in  nearly  all  parts  of 
Ireland."  These  "certain  circumstances "  were,  that  Government  was 
constantly  deceived  by  representations  about  the  state  of  the  country, 
which  were  partially  oi  wholly  false  ;  that  the  desire  to  "  let  a  building 
for  a  barrack"  the  "desire  to  have  troops  in  the  country,"  the  "desire  to 
have  the  yeomen  called  out  frequently,"  occasioned  representations  of 
disturbances  which  did  not  exist,  or  which  only  existed  in  a  very  alight 
degree.  L'pon  these  occasions  "letter  after  letter "  was  written  to  the 
Government  demanding  troops.  He  had  recommended  examining 
witnesses  on  oath,  but  admitted  that  this  remedy  was  not  always 
effectual,  "I'ur  it  frequently  happened  that  the  information  on  oath  waa 


352 


"GOD  HELP   THE  POOR." 


On  the  1st  of  June  1809,  the  citizens  of  Limerick  heard  a 
bell  calling  them  to  mass  for  the  first  time  within  the 
memory  of  that  generation ;  yet  so  great  was  the  fear  of 
Catholics  lest  they  should  bring  down  vengeance  on  their 
heads,  that  a  second  bell  was  not  erected  until  1814,  when 
one  was  put  up  in  the  then  parochial  chapel  of  St  John. 

On  the  6th  of  July  1812?  there  was  an  enthusiastic 
meeting  of  Catholics  in  the  Commercial  Buildings,  Lime* 
rick,  at  which  O'Connell  spoke 

"  The  occurrences  of  the  present  day  strongly  recall  to  my  mind 
a  former  period  of  Ireland's  misfortune ;  and  that  grave  of  Irish 
prosperity,  the  Legislative  Union,  gapes  before  my  eyes  with  all  ita 
sepulchral  horrors  ! 


equally  false  with  the  original  representations."  All  this  was  pleasant 
for  Brigadier-General  Lee.  There  was,  however,  one  satisfactory  conclu- 
sion. His  duty  was  plain.  The  poor  people,  "  who  committed  outrages 
and  disturbances,  might  have  reason  to  complain,"  but  this  was  not  a 
subject  of  consideration  for  the  general  officer ;  he  must  "  support  the  law, 
and  whoever  broke  the  law  must  be  considered  in  the  wrong."  This  line 
of  action  was  simple,  and  saved  a  good  deal  of  trouble.  He  adds,  "  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  nature  of  the  provocation  he  may  have  received,"— 
a  man  might  be  shot  down  like  a  dog  by  an  Orangeman,  his  family  might 
consider  that  as  the  law  would  not  punish  the  Orangemen  they  might 
themselves  do  so  ;  but  no,  they  were  to  submit,  and  be  thankful  that  they 
were  not  all  shot.  "  Provisions,"  continues  Sir  Arthur,  "  might  be  too 
dear,  rent  too  high,  and  the  magistrate?  might  not  do  their  duty  as  they 
ought  to  the  poor;"  no  matter,  the  landlords  were  to  go  free,  the  magis- 
trates were  to  pass  uncensured,  but  the  poor,  God  help  them!  "  were  to 
be  brought  to  justice."  This  was  the  advice  given  ou  mature  delibera- 
tion by  the  future  Duke  of  Wellington,  as  he  was  about  to  set  forth  on 
an  expedition  to  free  the  continent  of  Europe  from  the  "iron  rule"  of 
Napoleon. 


THANKS  TO  0' CON  NELL. 


353 


■  It  is  a  circumstance,  well  known  to  every  reflecting  mind,  that 
the  unhappy  dissensions,  which  rent  the  country  asunder,  might 
have  been  suppressed  at  the  beginning,  did  not  that  statesman, 
called  '  lite  great  man,  now  no  more,'  think  them  essentially  necessary 
$0  bring  about  his  favourite  political  project,  the  union  of  both 
countries. 

11  He  watched  the  evil  in  its  progress  and  maturity,  and  when  the 
malignant  poison  of  disaffection  had  mixed  with  the  blood  of  the 
people,  he  awoke,  as  it  were,  from  a  dream,  and  was  alive  to  all  the 
horrors  of  the  disease.  It  then  became  necessary  to  have  resort  to 
strong  and  desperate  measures  ;  and  before  the  country  had  recovered 
from  the  shock  of  civil  animosities,  while  the  sorrows  of  the  past 
had  fixed  the  mind,  and  rendered  it  careless  for  the  future,  the 
Uuion  was  proposed,  and  the  Union  was  carried  !  " 

These  observations  were  received  with  unbounded  ap- 
plause. In  Cork  he  also  addressed  a  meeting.  Mr  Entas 
M'Donnel  moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  him  in  these  words  : — 

"  That  the  thanks  of  the  Catholics  of  the  county  and  city  of  Cork 
are  most  eminently  due,  and  most  gratefully  given,  to  the  indepen- 
dent and  indefatigable  advocate  of  Irish  rights — Daniel  O'Connell, 
Esq. — as  well  for  the  brilliant  exertions  he  has  uniformly  made  in 
support  and  advancement  of  the  Catholic  cause,  as  for  the  un- 
daunted and  patriotic  spirit  with  which  he  ha«i  defended,  at  all 
times  and  in  ail  places,  the  Catholic  character  against  its  calumnia- 
tors, high  and  low." 

It  might  be  supposed  that  such  a  resolution  would  be 
passed  by  acclamation ;  yet  such  was  the  state  of  the 
Catholic  body,  such  the  fears  of  exciting  the  jealousy  of 
those  who  were  its  least  useful,  though  most  obstructive 
members,  that  it  was  considered  wise  to  let  the  reso- 
lution drop. 

z 


EXPOSURES  OF  PUBLIC  MEASURES  AND  PUBLIC  MEN. 
1812-1S15. 

BKQLISII  ADMINISTRATION  OP  HUSH  AFFAIRS — PARTY  RULE — NO-POFERY  CRT — 
ASSASSINATION  OP  MR  PERCEVAL — THE  PRINCE  OP  WALES — Til  IS  WITCHERT 
RESOLUTIONS — SPEECH— THE  ORANGE  FACTION — THE  LANDLORDS  AND  THE 
TENANTRY — EFFECTIVE  SPEECH — DENUNCIATION  OF  ORANGE  ISM — A  NA- 
TIONAL DEBT — STYLE  OP  SPEECH — AT  HIS  ZENITH — AS  A  RACONTEUR— 
ANECDOTES  OP  JERRY  KELLER  AND  LORD  CLARE— PARSON  HAWKES  WORTH 
— ADMINISTRATION  OP  JUSTICE — THE  DUBLIN  EVENING  POST — AT  HOMB — 
LETTER  TO  LANDOR — TRIAL  OP  JOHN  UAOBM — THE  PBOSiCU  TION  AND 
fiiOSLCUIOa — THE  RlkPLX. 


R  E  L  A  ND  always  was,  and 
we  suppose  always  will  be, 
the  grand  battle-ground  of 
English  administrations.  If 
Ireland  shall   ever  become 
politically  an  integral  por- 
tion of  the  British  Empire,  if  a  time  shall  ever 
arrive  when  there  will  be  no  Irish  question, 
honourable  members  in  Opposition  would  be 
surely  at  a  loss  to  find  another  happy  hunting- 
ground  for  political  grievances.    Such  a  state 
of  things  would  be  only  regretted  by  those  who, 
consciously   or   unconsciously,    bring  forward 
Irish  grievances  fur   political   purposes.  In 


;58  POLITICAL  A  NO  UAL 


IES. 


England  a  change  of  Ministry  makes  fnt  litile  difference 
to  the  vast  multitude  of  the  population.  Now  and  then  a 
great  national  interest  stirs  up  the  BluSSish  blood  of  tl,e 
miner  or  the  farm-labourer,  the  comfortable  husbandman, 
or  the  thriving  village  shopkeeper;  bit*  unless  some  suo» 
question  as  war  or  Corn-laws  arises,  the  classes  who  form 
the  mass  of  the  people  trouble  themsel/ es  very  little  about 
political  changes. 

John  Wilson  Croker,  who  wrote  of  the  state  of  Ireland 
in  1807,  said  "  that  Ireland  had  a  quic;ksand  Government, 
which  swallowed  in  its  fluctuations  rver^  venture  at  re* 
form.  In  seven  years  we  have  had  five  chief  £ove™ors  and 
eight  chief  secretaries  of  different  princiPles  and  Parfcies, 
each  shifting  the  ahortive  system  of  Predecessor  by  a 
system  equally  ahortive." 

It  is  only  in  politics  that  such  ^malies  exist.  If 
they  were  attempted  in  physical  science>  tbe  common  sense 
of  mankind  would  rise  up  and  denounre  the  absurdit)r>  and 
the  victims  of  it  would  receive  the  sinc:,erest  commiseration. 
But  the  absurdity  of  this  mode  of  government  seems  not 
to  have  been  recognised,  at  least  it  has*  not  been  recognised 
practically.  The  process  is,  however>  ^oin"  on  even  at 
the  present  day  with  every  appearance*  of  bein°  a  Perennia? 
institution.  The  Whig  and  the  Tory,  the  Liberal  and  the 
Conservative,  has  each  his  own  theory  of  government.  In 
England  there  is  no  opportunity  for  exceptional  practice 
or  for  interesting  experiments.    Ireland  affords  amPle  sub~ 


TALKING  AND  ACTING. 


359 


ject  for  any  amount  of  political  diagnosis.  The  patient 
may  struggle  now  and  then  to  free  himself  from  the  hands 
of  his  wise  physicians,  but  his  struggles  are  not  rewarded 
with  success,  expatriation  is  his  only  remedy,  and  that 
remedy  is  sought  with  an  avidity  which  shows  the  terrible 
nature  of  the  disease. 

In  England  when  a  Whig  Prime  Minister  goes  out,  and 
a  Tory  comes  in,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  what  the  Yankee 
would  denominate  "  tall  talk; "  in  Ireland,  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  unpleasant  action. 

As  long  as  men  confine  themselves  to  talking  politics, 
very  little  harm  is  done  ;  when  they  come  to  act  them,  the 
results  are  very  different.  In  Ireland  the  Whig  going  out 
means  Orange  ascendancy  ;  the  Whig  coming  in  means 
that  the  new  Prime  Minister  will,  as  far  as  he  dare,  or  as 
far  as  he  is  disposed,  do  some  justice  to  the  vast  majority 
of  the  nation.  The  Orangeman  who  curses  the  Pope 
in  Belfast  will  be  fined  a  little  more  rigorously,  and  some 
popular  Catholic  lawyer  will  get  a  seat  on  the  bench  ; 
some  respectable  Catholic  county  gentleman  will  have  the 
Honour  of  adding  J.P.  to  his  name.  Once  in  a  century 
some  real  justice  will  be  done  to  Catholics.  There  will  be 
Emancipation,  or  there  will  be  the  removal  of  a  Church 
which  few  Irishmen  believe  to  be  divine,  and  for  which  few, 
indeed,  would  care  to  sacrifice  a  year's  income,  much  less 
their  lives.  The  interests  of  the  Whig  minister  are  not 
Irish ;  he  does  just  as  much  as  is  necessary  to  satisfy  his 


300 


IGNORANCE  OF  IRISH  AFFAIRS. 


conscience,  if  he  has  one  ;  or  to  promote  his  interests,  if  he 
has  not  one.  It  is  dangerous  ground.  Pie  has,  above  all 
tilings,  to  fear  opposition,  opposition  needs  a  filler  am  for 
its  lever,  Irish  politics.  The  Tory  appeals  to  the  "  sense  of 
the  country,"  the  unhappy  minister  is  described  as  a  Jesuit 
in  disguise,  or,  at  least,  having  Papistical  tendencies.  The 
general  body  of  English  statesmen  do  not  understand  Irish 
politics,  and  know  as  much  about  the  state  of  Ireland  as 
they  do  about  Timbuctoo  ;  but  they  do  understand,  or  which 
is  quite  the  same  thing,  they  fancy  they  understand,  a  No- 
Popery  cry. 

Formerly  the  No-Popery  cry  was  got  up  violently.  The 
Irish  were  all  Papists,  or  nearly  all,  and  their  one  object  in 
life  was  to  massacre  the  heretic,  to  kill  the  poor,  innocent, 
inoffensive  Orangemen,  who  only  banded  together  for  their 
own  support.  The  Englishman  who  knew  nothing  of  Irish 
history,  and  who  believed  the  Irish  to  be  a  nation  of  bar- 
barians, quite  believed  this.  They  never  heard  of  any 
Orange  cruelties,  of  any  Protestant  massacres ;  they  knew 
nothing  of  violated  treaties,  or  the  details  of  penal  laws. 

By-and-by  the  tradition  became  weakened.  English- 
men had  more  intercourse  with  Ireland  and  with  these 
Papists.  They  came  to  know  that  they  were  not  quite  so 
bad  as  they  had  traditionally  believed  for  so  many  cen- 
turies. Still  the  old  prejudice  remained.  There  is  nothing 
more  difficult  to  eradicate  than  prejudice.  There  were, 
there  is,  a  certain  class  always  ready  ro  take  up  a  No-Popery 


ASSASSIXATIOX  OF  MR  PERCEVAL.  361 

cry,  but  now  it  must  be  put  in  rather  a  different  form.  It 
answers  the  purpose,  however,  equally  well.  The  Opposi- 
tion who  wish  to  get  in  are  not  very  scrupulous  about  the 
means.  They  do  get  in,  and,  behold,  a  new  policy  for 
Ireland. 

The  Orangemen  who  have  supported  them  must  be 
rewarded;  the  Papist  must  be  "put  down."  He  has 
been  endured  too  long,  pampered  and  petted  by  the  infatu- 
ated policy  of  the  last  party  in  office,  and  he  will  now  be 
made  to  feel  that  he  is  an  inferior  being;  one  who  is  only 
tolerated,  and  who  should  be  extremely  thankful  for 
toleration.  What  right  has  he,  indeed,  to  expect  favours? 
And  with  this  class  of  politicians,  justice,  where  a  Catholic 
is  concerned,  is  believed  to  be  a  favour. 

Thus,  by  this  perpetual  change  of  policy  a  continual 
bitterness  is  kept  up;  each  party  expects  his  turn,  when 
he  hopes  to  triumph  over  the  opposite  party.  It  would  be 
better,  and  more  worthy  of  the  so-called  enlightened  nine- 
teenth century,  if  the  balance  of  government  was  so  equal, 
that  whoever  might  predominate  for  the  moment  might 
feel  it  more  than  unwise  to  make  that  predominence  an 
excuse  for  tyranny. 

On  the  11th  of  May  1812,  Mr  Perceval  was  assassinated 
by  Bellingham  in  the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  blow  was  so  sudden,  so  unexpected,  so  entirely  nn- 
looked  for,  and  apart  from  any  kind  of  probability,  that 
the  nation  was  stunned  with  horror.    There  were,  indeed,. 


362 


THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 


Bome  who  thought  that  England  had  been  "  cursed  by  hia 
sway,"  but  they  were  few.  Ireland  had  no  reason  to  blesa 
his  memory  certainly. 

There  was  consternation  in  political  circles,  and  there 
was  confusion  also.  One  brilliant  statesman,  haunted  by 
the  pre-Newdegate  phantom  of  an  imaginary  Popish  plot, 
declared  that  it  was  all  the  fault  of  the  Catholics.  "You 
see,  my  lords,"  exclaimed  the  sapient  Earl  of  Rosse,  "  you 
see,  my  lords,  the  consequences  of  agitating  the  question 
of  Catholic  Emancipation."  A  man  with  one  idea  is  gene- 
rally a  fool.  If  there  had  been  an  exceptionally  high  tide, 
he  would  have  attributed  any  damage  it  might  have  done 
to  the  Papists  also. 

The  Irish  Catholics  had  long  trusted  the  Prince  of 
Wales.  They  believed  the  solemn  promises  he  had  made 
that  he  would  at  least  consider  their  claims  when  he  came 
into  power.  Even  when  he  did  obtain  all  but  the  name 
of  king,  when  the  poor  old  monarch  was  wandering 
dreamily  through  his  palaces  in  hopeless  idiocy,  and  the 
young  prince  ruled ;  they  believed,  with  the  utter  trusting- 
ness  of  their  Celtic  nature,  that  he  was  only  kept  from 
fulfil ing  his  promises  by  evil  counsellors,  by  this  Perceval 
especially,  who  was  now  gone  to  his  account.  They  were 
soon  undeceived.  O'Connell  may  have  had  some  hope,  but 
he  was  one  of  the  first  to  discover  his  real  character. 

"  I  believe,"  said  O'Connell,  "  there  never  was  a  greater  scoundrel 
than  that  prince.    To  his  other  evil  qualities,  he  added  a  perfect 


THE  GREATEST  LIAR  IN  ENGLAND. 


363 


disregard  for  truth.  During  his  connection  with  Mrs  Fitzherbert, 
Charles  J.imes  Fox  dined  with  liim  one  day  in  that  lady's  company. 
After  dinner,  Mrs  Fitzherbert  said,  1  By  the  by,  Mr  Fox,  I  had 
almost  forgotten  to  ask  you  what  you  did  say  about  me  in  the  House 
of  Commons  the  other  night  ?  The  newspapers  misrepresent  so 
very  strangely  that  one  cannot  depend  on  them.  You  were  made  to 
sav  that  the  prince  authorised  you  to  deny  li is  marriage  with  me.' 
The  prince  made  monitory  grimaces  at  Fox,  and  immediately  said, 
4  Upon  my  honour,  my  dear,  I  never  authorised  him  to  deny  it.' 

*  Upon  my  honour,  sir,  you  did]  said  Fox,  rising  from  the  table. 

*  I  had  always  thought  your  father  the  greatest  liar  in  England,  but 
now  see  that  you  are.'  " 

Moore  said  of  him,  "  I  am  sure  the  powder  in  his  Royal 
Highness'  hair  is  much  more  settled  than  anything  in  his 
head  or  in  his  heart." 

It  was  of  him  also  that  Moore  wrote  one  of  his  touching 
melodies,  a  melody  wrliich  is  sung  by  many  who  have  little 
idea  of  its  political  origin. 

"  I  saw  thee  change — yet  still  relied  ; 
Still  clung  with  hope  the  fonder; 
And  thought,  though  false  to  all  beside, 
From  me  thou  wouldst  not  wander. 
But  go,  deceiver  !  go — 

The  heart  whose  hope  could  make  it 
Trust  one  so  false,  so  low, 

Deserves  that  thou  shouldst  break  it" 

A  meeting  was  held  on  the  18th  June  1812,  at  Fish- 
amble  Street  Theatre — Lord  Fingal  in  the  chair — at  which 
Mr  Hussey  gave  an  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the 


THE  "WITCHERY"  RESOLUTIONS. 


gentlemen  who  had  been  sent  to  London  on  the  part  of 

the  Catholics. 

"  Tie  stated,  that  on  applying  for  a  personal  interview  with  hia 
Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent,  they  received  a  blunt  refusal, 
and  were  informed  by  Mr  Secretary  Ryder,  that  the  address  to  his 
Highness,  with  which  they  were  charged,  should  be  presented  at 
one  of  his  public  levees  1  in  the  usual  way.' 

"  Every  artifice,"  continued  Mr  Hussey,  "  every  hostility  was 
used  by  the  administration  and  its  adherents  against  the  Catholic 
petition  to  Parliament.  The  same  cry  ivas  raised  ivhich  gave  them 
in  England  the  value  of  popularity  at  their  outset ;  and  in  every 
street  we  were  met  by  placards  from  various  debating  societies,  that 
the  question  to  be  argued  was,  would  not  the  emancipating  of  the 
Catholics  be  attended  with  worse  consequences  than  the  naturalisa- 
tion of  the  Jews  1  Publications,  which  had  laid  dormant  for  hun- 
dreds of  years,  were  dragged  from  their  obscurity,  and  circulated  with 
an  anxiety  and  industry  heretofore  unknown;  every  calumny  that 
could  be  thrown  against  our  tenets,  everything  against  our  priesthood, 
every  libel,  and  every  lie,  were  marshalled,  against  us/" 

The  famous  "  witchery  "  resolutions  were  passed  at  this 
meeting.  The  resolutions  obtained  this  name  from  the 
very  plain  allusion  contained  in  the  first  resolution  to 
the  witchery  which  was  exercised  by  Lady  Hertford  in  her 
guilty  intrigues  with  the  Prince  Regent. 

The  4th,  5th,  and  6th  resolutions  were  the  most  impor- 
tant:— 

"  4.  That  from  authentic  documents  now  before  us,  we  learn,  with 
deep  disappointment  and  anguish,  how  cruelly  the  promised  boon 
of  Catholic  freedom  has  been  intercepted  by  the  fatal  witchery  of 
an  unworthy  secret  influence,  hostile  to  our  fairest  hopes,  spurning 


TEE  I  RISE  PAPISTS  OATE. 


365 


alike  the  sanctions  of  public  and  private  virtue,  the  demands  of 
personal  gratitude,  and  the  sacred  obligations  of  plighted  honour. 

"  5.  That  to  this  impure  source  we  trace,  but  too  distinctly,  our 
afflicted  hopes  and  protracted  servitude,  the  arrogant  invasion  oi 
the  undoubted  right  of  petitioning,  the  acrimony  of  illegal  state 
prosecutions,  the  surrender  of  Ireland  to  prolonged  oppression  and 
insult,  and  the  many  experiments,  equally  pitiful  and  perilous, 
recently  practised  upon  the  habitual  passivenesa  of  an  ill-treated,  but 
high-spirited  people. 

"  6.  That  cheerless,  indeed,  would  be  our  prospects,  and  faint  our 
hopes  of  success,  were  they  to  rest  upon  the  constancy  of  courtiers, 
or  the  pompous  patronage  of  men,  who  can  coldly  sacrifice  the 
feelings  and  interest  of  millions  at  the  shrine  of  perishable  power; 
or,  deluded  by  the  blandishments  of  too  luxurious  a  court,  can 
hazard  the  safety  of  a  people  for  ill-timed  courtly  compliment.  The 
pageants  of  a  court  command  not  our  respect  ;  our  great  cause  rests 
upon  the  immutable  foundations  of  truth,  and  justice,  and  reason. 
Equal  constitutional  righto,  unconditional,  unstipulated,  unpur- 
chased by  dishonour,  are  objects  dear  to  our  hearts.  They  consist 
with  wisdom,  virtue,  humanity,  true  religion,  and  unaffected  honour; 
and  can  never  be  abandoned  by  men  who  deserve  to  be  free." 

O'Connell  surpassed  himself  in  eloquence  when  passing 
these  resolutions.  He  commenced  by  a  clear  statement 
of  the  variou<  pledges  which  had  been  made  by  the  Prince 
Regent  at  different  times  to  assist  the  Catholics.  There 
wtxs  no  need  to  show  that  these  pledges  had  been  recklessly 
violated  one  and  all.  The  Irish  Papist  would  not  be 
believed  even  on  his  oath.  If  he  was  permitted  to  take  an 
oath,  he  was  generally  obliged  to  swear  that  what  he  swore 
was  true.  There  are  some  phases  in  the  English  political 
government  of  Ireland  which  might  reconcile  the  Irishman 


366 


MURDER  NO  CRIME. 


to  this  insult  to  his  faith  and  his  honesty.  Perhaps  those 
Englishmen  who  found  it  so  difficult  to  believe  an  Irish 
oath  were  little  influenced  by  the  knowledge  of  their  own 
reckless  disregard  of  their  solemn  pledges.  After  all,  they 
could  only  he  expected  to  judge  others  by  themselves. 

Of  the  pledges  made  to  Lord  Kenmare,  Lord  Petre,  and 
Lord  Clifden,  through  the  Duke  of  Bedford  and  Mr  Pou- 
sonby,  we  need  not  speak.  These  pledges  were  left  in  the 
pawn-office  of  English  honour,  and  men  of  principle  were 
found  at  last  to  redeem  them. 

The  conclusion  of  0' Council's  speech  is  more  important, 
for  it  might  have  been  made  in  our  own  day  with  painful 
justice : — 

"  We  may  still  hope.  Hope,  the  last  refuge  of  the  wretched,  ia 
left  us;  and  we  lately  indulged  it  almost  with  the  pleasures  of 
certainty.  A  crime,  the  horrid  crime  of  causeless  assassination,  had 
deprived  England  of  her  Prime  Minister — for,  my  Lord,  everywhere 
but  in  Ireland  assassination  is  admitted  to  be  a  crime.  Here,  also, 
it  depends  on  circumstances ;  you  have  but  to  combine  these  cir- 
cumstances. Let  the  victim  be  an  Irish  Papist,  let  the  murderer 
be  an  Orangeman,  and  let  a  legal  junta  administer  the  government 
in  the  name  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond  :  it  requires  no  more  to 
turn  murder  into  merit ! 

"  The  process  in  England  is  different.  There  they  hanged  and 
dissected  the  murderer,  and  transferred  the  advantages  of  the  crime* 
if  I  may  so  express  myself,  to  the  victim  ;  it  really  and  truly  has 
been  considered  a  merit  in  Mr  Perceval  to  have  been  murdered. 
The  public  men  in  England  seem  to  think  his  death  constituted  not 
only  an  expiation  for  all  his  political  sins,  but  turned  his  offences 
against  his  country  into  virtues. 


A   TALE  OF  WOE. 


367 


u  For  my  part,  I  feel  unaffected  horror  at  his  fate,  and  all  trace  of 
resentment  for  his  crimes  is  obliterated.  But  I  do  not  forget  that 
he  was  a  narrow-minded  bigot,  a  paltry  statesman,  and  a  bad  minis- 
ter— that  every  species  of  public  corruption  and  profligacy  had  in 
him  a  flippant  and  pert  advocate — that  every  advance  towards  re- 
form or  economy  had  in  him  a  decided  enemy — and  that  the  liberties 
of  the  people  were  an  object  of  his  derision. 

11  All  this  has  not  been  changed  by  the  hand  of  this  assassin  ;  yet 
I  do,  from  my  heart,  participate  in  the  grief  and  anguish  which  his 
premature  fall  must  have  excited  within  his  domestic  circle.  The 
sorrows  of  his  family  have  been  obtruded  on  the  public,  by  ill-judging 
party  writers,  with  something  like  ostentatious  affectation  ;  but  I 
do  not  love  the  man — nay,  Ihate  the  man — who  could  contemplate, 
coldly  and  unmoved,  the  affecting  spectacle  of  the  wife  and  children 
standing  in  speechless  agony  round  the  lifeless  body  of  the  murdered 
husband  and  father;  it  was  a  scene  to  make  a  stoic  weep. 

u  But  are  all  our  feelings  to  be  exhausted  by  the  great  ?  Is  there 
no  compassion  for  the  wretched  Irish  widow,  who  lost  her  boy — her 
hope,  her  support  1  I  shall  never  forget  the  pathetic  and  Irish  sim- 
plicity with  which  she  told  her  tale  of  woe — 1  My  child  was  but 
seventeen  ;  he  left  me  on  Sunday  morning  quite  well,  and  very 
merry,  and  he  came  home  a  corpse.'  Are  her  feelings  to  be  despised 
and  trampled  on  ?  Is  the  murderer  of  her  son  to  remain  unpunished, 
perhaps  to  be  rewarded  ?  Oh  yes  ;  for  Byrne  was  a  Papist,  and  the 
assassin,  Hall,  was  an  Orangeman,  nay,  a  purple  marksman  :  and 
recollect,  that  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Richmond  did  not  pardon  him 
until  after  a  most  fair  and  patient  trial.  Hall  was  defended  by  his 
counsel  and  attorney  ;  he  was  tried  by  a  jury  of  his  own  selection  ; 
I  say  of  his  own  selection — because  he  exhausted  but  few  of  his 
peremptory  challenges;  nobody,  indeed,  would  think  of  accusing 
honest  Sheriff  James  of  packing  a  jury  against  an  Orangeman. 
Even  had  the  list  been  previously  submitted  to  the  Secretary  at  the 
Castle,  he  would  not  have  altered  a  single  name  ;  Sir  Charles  Saxton 
might  have  reviewed  it  with  perfect  safety  to  the  prisoner. 


368  AN  "INDIFFERENT"  BETRAYER. 


"  After  a  patient  trial,  and  a  full  defence,  Hall  was  convicted  ;  he 
was  convicted  before  a  judge  certainly  not  unfavourable  to  the  pri- 
soner  ;  he  was  convicted  of  having  murdered,  Math  the  arms  entrusted 
to  hhn  for  the  defence  of  the  public  peace,  and  in  the  public  streets 
of  your  city,  and  in  the  open  day,  an  innocent  and  unoffending  youth. 
He  has  been  pardoned  and  set  at  large — perhaps  he  has  been  re- 
warded :  but  can  this  be  done  with  impunity?  Is  there  no  ven- 
geance for  the  blood  of  the  widow's  son  1  Alas  !  I  am  not,  I  trust, 
inclined  to  superstition,  yet  it  obtruded  itself  on  my  mind,  that  the 
head  of  the  Government  which  had  allowed  the  blood  of  Byrne  to 
flow  unrequited,  might  have  vindicated  the  notion  of  a  providential 
visitation  for  the  unpunished  crime."  3 

CTConnell  then  spoke,  "  not  in  anger,  but  in  the 
deepest  sorrow,"  of  Lord  Moira.  He,  too,  was  one  of  the 
many  whom  the  Irish  had  trusted,  and  by  whom  they 
were  betrayed.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  his  betrayal  wa3 
not  a  betrayal  of  treachery,  it  was  a  betrayal  of  indifference, 
but  the  effect  was  much  the  same. 

There  was  little  to  hope  for  from  the  new  Ministry, 
especially  as  Lord  Wellesley  had  refused  office,  because  it 
was  distinctly  avowed  that  nothing  would  be  done  for 
Catholics.  The  Orange  faction  were  now  ascendant 
and  triumphant,  and  as  they  never  "bore  their  honours 
meekly,"  the  worst  results  ensued  for  the  peace  of  unhappy 
Ireland. 

3  In  a  letter  from  the  Princess  Elizabeth  to  the  Hon.  Mrs  Scott,  speak- 
ing of  the  murder  of  Mr  Perceval,  she  says—"  It  is  impossible  not  to 
shrink  with  horror  when  one  thinks  of  an  Englishman  committing 
murder."  Poor  Princess  !  how  little  she  knew  of  the  real  history  of  hei 
own  time  1—Life  of  Lord  Eldon,  vol.  ii.  p.  204. 


CRIME  EXAGGERATED. 


369 


O'Connell  declared  again  and  again,  his  desire  to  work 
cordially  with  Irish  Protestants.  TTe  was  the  first  to  make 
puhlic  acknowledgment,  in  the  very  warmest  language,  for 
any  assistance  he  might  obtain  from  them,  and  he  had 
good  reason  to  do  so.  There  were  many  Irish  Protestants 
who  worked  with  him  cordially;  and  if  he  denounced  the 
Orange  faction  in  no  measured  words,  it  was  because  they 
were  a  faction,  not  because  they  were  Protestants. 

If  religion  had  not  been  used  as  a  political  engine  by 
English  statesmen,  their  factious  bitterness  would  soon 
have  died  out.1 

It  was  necessary  also  at  this  time  to  get  up  a  strong  anti- 
Irish  feeling  in  England,  and  the  task  was  by  no  means 
difficult.  Men  were  driven  to  the  verge  of  desperation,  in 
truth  to  desperation,  by  being  deprived  of  the  most  ordi- 
nary means  of  procuring  the  necessaries  of  life.  These 
men  did  commit  outrages,  did  commit  murder ;  and  every 
outrage  was  magnified,  as  it  passed  through  the  manipulation 
of  those  who  were  interested  in  manipulating  it;  and  every 
murder  was  represented  as  the  most  deadly,  the  most 
treacherous,  and  the  most  diabolical  of  crimes.  From 
the  way  in  which  Irish  agrarian  murders  were — shall 


4  The  Orangemen  were  very  active  this  year.  King  William's 
statue  in  Dublin  was  adorned  with  extra  ornaments.  The  custom  of 
adorning  this  statue  began  in  1795,  and  was  originated  by  a  half-crazy 
bookseller  named  Mackenzie,  who  got  the  nickname  of  King  William's 
milliner. 

2a 


370  TIMES  OF  DISTRESS. 

_____  _____—_—_—————————  — — — — i   m 

we  say  are? — spoken  of,  it  might  be  supposed  that  the 
landlords  were  the  most  benevolent  of  human  beings,  who 
overwhelmed  these  wretches  with  a  weight  of  mercy  and 
kindness.  How  entirely  the  reverse  of  this  practice  was  true, 
may  he  found  in  the  sworn  evidence  of  men  of  whose  veracity 
there  cannot  be  a  question.5 

Orange  Lodges  were  then  being  established  in  England, 
where,  unhappily,  there  is  every  effort  being  made  at  pre- 

6  In  the  report  of  the  Select  Committee,  1824,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing questions  and  answers  : — "  Mr  Beecher  said — 1  I  think  they  (the 
lower  classes)  have  been  unused  to  fair  dealing  from  the  upper  classes  ; 
if  they  get  it,  they  seem  gratified  beyond  measure.'  Major  "Warburton 
declared  that  many  of  the  people  would  willingly  give  a  day's  labour 
in  times  of  distress  for  one  meal.  John  Duncan,  Esq.,  said, — '  To 
the  want  of  employment  I  attribute  much  of  our  unhappy  state.' 
John  Wiggins,  Esq.,  an  English  merchant,  said  '  The  efforts  I  have  wit- 
nessed are  really  extraordinary.  People  bringing  manure  from  the  sea 
up  extraordinary  cliffs.  I  give  them  infinite  credit  for  perseverance  in 
this  way.'  Francis  Blackburne,  K.C.,  said — 'On  the  property  of  Lord 
Stradbroke,  in  the  county  Limerick,  there  were  forty  or  fi  fty  families. 
The  whole  of  that  numerous  body  were  dispersed,  and  their  houses  pro- 
strated ;  they  were,  generally  speaking,  destitute  of  the  means  of  support. 
That  circumstance  created  a  good  deal  of  irritation  in  the  county.  [It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington  said  such  t  irritation ' 
must  be  put  down.]  This  is  not  a  singular  case.  The  same  thing  is 
generally  prevalent  in  the  whole  of  the  country.'  He  further  said, '  The 
mass  of  the  population  were  destitute  of  what  in  England  would  be  con- 
sidered the  necessaries  of  life.'  Mr  K  em  mis,  Crown  Solicitor,  gave  an 
account  of  eleven  murders  which  occurred  from  1816  to  1838,  all  arising 
from  evictions." 

Mr  Kohl,  in  his  well-known  Irish  "Tour,"  said— "When  he  saw  the 
poor  settlers  of  Livonia,  he  used  to  pity  them ;  but  when  he  came  to 
Ireland,  he  found  that  the  poorest  of  them  lead  a  life  of  luxury  compared 
with  that  of  the  Irish  nation." 


•PROTESTING  CATHOLIC  DISSENTERS:1  371 


Bent  to  increase  them.  Their  one  cry  now,  as  then,  is  for 
their  own  ascendency ;  and  some  of  our  readers  will  remem- 
ber the  treasonable  language  which  they  used  at  the  period 
immediately  previous  to  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish 
Protestant  Church,  and  the  declaration  made  by  many  of 
Own)  that  their  loyalty  would  last  as  long  as  their  princi- 
ples were  carried  out,  and  no  longer. 

On  the  15th  of  June  1813,  there  was  a  meeting  at 
Fishamble  Street  Theatre,  at  which  over  4000  persons  were 
present.  After  reading  the  resolutions,  O'Connell  made  a 
singularly  effective  speech,  from  which  we  can  only  give  a 
few  extracts  : — 

"  Let  me,  in  the  first  place,  congratulate  you  on  the  progress 
which  the  principle  of  religious  liberty  has  made  since  you  last  met. 
It  has  been  greatly  advanced  by  a  magnificent  discovery  lately  made 
by  the  English  in  ethics,  and  upon  which  I  also  beg  leave  to  con- 
gratulate you.  It  is  this  :  several  Englishmen  have  discovered,  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  and  more  than  four  hundred  years  after  the 
propagation  of  science  was  facilitated  by  the  art  of  printing — several 
sagacious  Englishmen  have  made  this  wonderful  discuvery  in  moral 
philosophy,  that  a  man  is  not  necessarily  a  worse  citizen  for  having 
a  conscience,  and  that  a  conscientious  adherence  to  a  Christian  reli- 
gion is  not  an  offence  deserving  of  degradation  or  punishment." 

He  then  alluded  to  the  Veto  question. 

"  They  offer  you  emancipation,  as  Catholics,  if  you  will  kindly 
consent,  in  return,  to  become  schismatics.6    They  offer  you  liberty, 


6  This  was  probably  an  allusion  to  Mr  Butler's  efforts  to  get  i  body 
of  English  Catholics  together  who  would  agree  to  the  Veto,  and  call 
themselves,  "  Protesting  Catholic  Dissenters." 


372 


MODERN  CANT. 


as  men,  if  yon  agree  to  become  slaves  after  a  new  fashion — that  is, 
your  friends  and  your  enemies  have  declared  that  you  are  entitled 
to  Catholic  emancipation  and  freedom,  upon  the  trifling  terms  of 
schism  and  servitude  ! 

"  Generous  enemies  ! — bountiful  friends!  Yes,  in  their  bounty, 
♦hoy  resemble  the  debtor  who  should  address  his  creditor  thus  : — 
1  It  is  true,  I  owe  you  £100  ;  T  am  perfectly  well  able  to  pay  you ; 
but  what  will  you  give  me,  if  I  hand  you  6s.  8d.  in  the  pound  of 
your  just  debt,  as  a  final  adjustment?  Let  us  allay  all  jealousies,' 
continues  the  debtor,  'let  us  put  an  end  to  all  animosities — I  will 
give  you  one-third  of  what  I  owe  you,  if  you  will  give  me  forty 
shillings  in  the  pound  of  additional  value,  and  a  receipt  in  full,  duly 
stamped,  into  the  bargain.' 

"  But  why  do  I  treat  this  serious  and  melancholy  subject  with 
levity  ?  Why  do  I  jest,  when  my  heart  is  sore  and  sad  1  Because 
I  have  not  patience  with  this  modern  cant  of  securities,  and  vetoes, 
and  arrangements,  and  clauses,  and  commissions.  Securities  against 
what?  Not  against  the  irritation  and  dislike  which  may  and  natu- 
rally ought  to  result  from  prolonged  oppression  and  insult.  Securi- 
ties— not  against  the  consequences  of  dissensions,  distrusts,  and 
animosities.  Securities — not  against  foreign  adversaries.  The 
securities  that  are  required  from  us  are  against  the  effects  of  con- 
ciliation and  kindness,  against  the  dangers  to  be  apprehended  from 
domestic  union,  peace,  and  cordiality.  If  they  do  not  emancipate 
us  ;  if  they  leave  us  aliens  and  outlaws  in  our  native  land ;  if  they 
continue  our  degradation,  and  all  those  grievances  that,  at  present, 
set  our  passions  at  war  with  our  duty,  then  they  have  no  pretext 
for  asking,  nor  do  they  require,  any  securities  ;  but  should  they 
raise  us  to  the  rank  of  Irishmen,  should  they  give  us  an  imme* 
diate  and  personal  interest  in  our  native  land,  should  they  share 
with  us  the  blessings  of  the  constitution,  should  they  add  to 
our  duty  the  full  tide  of  our  interests  and  affection ;  then— then, 
say  they,  securities  will  be  necessary.  Securities  and  guards 
must  be  adopted.  State  bridles  must  be  invented,  and  shackles 
and  manacles  must  be  forged,  lest,  in  the  intoxication  of  new 


A  NEW  ERA. 


S73 


liberty,  we  should  destroy,  only  because  we  have  a  greater  interest 
to  preserve." 

The  great  orator  then  turned  to  historical  facts,  which 
were  incontrovertible,  for  a  proof  of  his  assertions. 

"  Eut  to  return  to  our  own  history.  The  reigns  of  the  First  and 
of  the  Second  George  passed  away  ;  England  continued  strong  ;  she 
persevered  in  oppression  and  injustice  ;  she  was  powerful  and  re- 
jected ;  she,  therefore,  disregarded  the  sufferings  of  the  Irish,  and 
increased  their  chains.  The  Catholics  once  had  the  presumption  to 
draw  up  a  petition;  it  was  presented  to  Primate  Boulter,  then 
governing  Ireland.  He  not  only  rejected  it  with  scorn  and  without 
a  reply,  but  treated  the  insolence  of  daring  to  complain  as  a  crime 
and  punished  it  as  an  offence,  by  recommending  and  procuring  still 
more  severe  laws  against  the  Papists,  and  the  more  active  execution 
of  the  former  statutes. 

"  But  a  new  era  advanced ;  the  war  which  George  the  Second 
waged  on  account  of  Hanover  and  America  exhausted  the  resources, 
and  lessened,  while  it  displayed,  the  strength  of  England.  In  the 
meantime,  the  Duke  of  Bedford  was  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 
The  ascendency  mob  of  Dublin,  headed  by  a  Lucas,  insulted  the 
Lord-Lieutenant  with  impunity,  and  threatened  the  Parliament. 
All  was  riot  and  confusion  within,  whilst  France  had  prepared  an 
army  and  a  fleet  for  the  invasion  of  Ireland.  Serious  danger  men- 
aced England.  The  very  connection  between  the  countries  was  in 
danger.  The  Catholics  were,  for  the  first  time,  thought  of  with 
favour.  They  were  encouraged  to  address  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  and 
for  the  first  time,  their  address  received  the  courtesy  of  a  reply. 

"  By  this  slight  civility  (the  more  welcome  for  its  novelty)  the  warm 
hearts  and  ready  hands  of  the  Irish  Catholics  were  purchased.  The 
foreign  foe  was  deterred  from  attempting  to  invade  a  country  where 
he  could  no  longer  have  found  a  friend  ;  the  domestic  insurgents 
were  awed  into  silence ;  the  Catholics  and  the  Government,  simplj 


374 


CHANGE  OF  FORTUNE. 


by  their  combination,  saved  the  state  from  its  perils  ;  and  thus  did 
the  Catholics,  in  a  period  of  danger,  and  upon  the  very  first  applica- 
tion, and  in  return  for  no  more  than  kind  words,  give,  what  we 
want  to  give,  security  to  the  empire." 

O'Connell  then  referred  with  singular  power  and  feli- 
city, and  with  convincing  truth,  to  the  various  periods  of 
Irish  history  at  which  some  justice  was  done  to  Catho- 
lics, because  England  was  in  peril,  and  found  it  best 
to  avoid  domestic  dissension  when  she  had  to  contend 
with  foreigners. 

Then  he  reverted  to  the  occasions  in  which  Catholic 
claims  were  treated  writh  contempt  because  England  was 
prosperous— 

"In  1792,  the  Catholics  urged  their  claims,  as  they  had  more 
than  once  done  before.  But  the  era  was  inauspicious  to  them,  for 
England  was  in  prosperity.  On  the  Continent,  the  confederation  of 
German  princes  and  the  assemblage  of  the  French  princes,  w  ith  their 
royalist  followers,  the  treaty  of  Pilnitz,  and  the  army  of  the  King  of 
Prussia,  gave  hope  of  crushing  and  extinguishing  France  and  her 
liberties  for  ever.  At  that  moment  the  Catholic  petition  was 
brought  before  Parliament ;  it  was  not  even  suffered,  according  to 
the  course  of  ordinary  courtesy,  to  lie  on  the  table  *  it  was  rejected 
with  indignation  and  with  contempt.  The  head  of  the  La  Tnicke 
family,  which  has  since  produced  so  many  first-rate  Irishmen,  then 
retained  that  Huguenot  hatred  for  Catholics  which  is  still  cherished 
by  Saurin,  the  Attorney- General  for  Ireland.  La  Touche  proposed 
that  the  petition  should  be  rejected,  and  it  was  rejected  by  a 
majority  of  200  to  only  13. 

"  Fortune,  however,  changed.  The  invaricn  cf  the  Prussians  was 
unsuccessful ;  the  French  people,  worshipping  the  name  as  if  it 
were  the  reality  of  liberty,  chased  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  from  their 


THE  PLAIN  PATH   TO  SAFETY.  375 


Boil  ;  the  King  of  Prussia,  in  the  Luttrel  style,  sold  the  pass ;  the 
German  princes  were  confounded,  and  the  French  princes  scattered ; 
Dumourier  gained  the  battle  of  Jemappes,  and  conquered  the  Aus- 
trian Netherlands  ;  the  old  governments  of  Europe  were  struck 
with  consternation  and  dismay,  and  we  arrived  at  the  fourth,  and 
hitherto  the  last  stage  of  Emancipation  ;  for,  after  those  events 
in  1793,  was  passed  that  Act  which  gave  us  many  valuable  political 
rights — many  important  privileges. 

"The  Parliament — the  same  men  who,  in  1792,  would  not  suffer 
our  petition  to  lie  on  the  table — the  men  who,  in  1792,  treated  us 
with  contempt,  in  the  short  space  of  a  few  months  granted  us  the 
elective  franchise.  In  1702,  We  were  despised  and  rejected;  in 
1793,  we  were  flattered  and  favoured.  The  reason  was  obvious  ;  in 
the  year  1792,  England  was  safe  ;  in  1793,  she  wanted  security — 
and  security  she  found  in  the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics,  partial 
though  it  was  and  limited.  The  spirit  of  republican  phrenzy  was 
abroad  ;  the  enthusiasm  for  liberty,  even  to  madness,  pervaded  the 
public  mind." 

He  followed  up  this  exposure  of  English  vacillation  by 
showing  the  true  path  to  security. 

"The  plain  path  to  safety — to  security — lies  before  her.  Let 
Irishmen  be  restored  to  their  inherent  rights,  and  she  may  laugh  to 
scorn  the  shock  of  every  tempest.  The  arrangements  which  the 
abolition  of  the  national  debt  may  require  will  then  be  effectuated, 
Without  convulsion  or  disturbance;  and  no  foreign  foe  will  dare  to 
pollute  the  land  of  freemen  and  of  brothers. 

"  They  have,  however,  struck  out  another  resource  in  England  : 
they  have  resolved,  it  is  said,  to  resort  to  the  protection  of  Oninye 
Lodges.  That  system  which  has  been  declared  by  judges  from  the 
bench  to  be  illegal  and  criminal,  and  found  by  the  experience  of  the 
people  to  be  bigoted  and  bloody — the  Orange  system,  which  has 
marked  its  progress  in  blood,  in  murder,  and  in  massacre — the 
Orange  system,  which  has  desolated  Ireland,  and  would  have  con- 


376 


DENUNCIATION  OF  ORANGEISM. 


verted  her  into  a  solitude  but  for  the  interposing  hand  of  Corn- 
wall is — the  Orange  system,  with  all  its  sanguinary  horrors,  is,  they 
say,  to  be  adopted  in  England ! 

"  Its  prominent  patron,  we  are  told,  is  Lord  Kenyon  or  Lord 
Yarmouth  ;  the  first  an  insane  religionist  of  the  Welsh  Jumper  sect, 
who,  bounding  in  the  air,  imagines  he  can  lay  hold  of  a  limb  of  the 
Deit.y,  like  Macbeth,  snatching  at  the  air-drawn  dagger  of  his  fancy! 
He  Avould  be  simply  ridiculous,  but  for  the  mischievous  malignity 
of  his  holy  piety,  which  desires  to  convert  Papists  from  their  errors 
through  the  instrumentality  of  daggers  of  steel.  Lord  Kenyon  may 
enjoy  his  ample  sinecures  as  he  pleases,  but  his  folly  should  not 
goad  to  madness  the  people  of  Ireland. 

•'••,•••« 

"  You  know  full  well  that  I  do  not  exaggerate  the  horrors  which 
the  Orange  system  has  produced,  and  must  produce,  if  revived 
from  authority  in  this  country.  I  have,  in  some  of  the  hireling 
prints  of  London,  read,  under  the  guise  of  opposing  the  adoption 
of  the  Orange  system,  the  most  unfounded  praises  of  the  conduct 
of  the  Irish  Orangemen.  They  were  called  loyal  and  worthy  and 
constitutional.  Let  me  hold  them  up  in  their  true  light.  The 
first  authentic  fact  in  their  history  occurs  in  1795.  It  is  to  be 
found  in  the  address  of  Lord  Gosford,  to  a  meeting  of  the  magis- 
trates of  the  county  of  Armagh,  convened  by  his  lordship,  as  gover- 
nor of  that  county,  on  the  28th  of  December  1795.  Allow  me  to 
read  the  following  passage  from  that  address  : — 

"  '  Gentlemen,  Having  requested  your  attendance  here  this  day, 
it  becomes  my  duty  to  state  the  grounds  upon  which  I  thought  it 
advisable  to  propose  this  meeting ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  submit 
to  your  consideration  a  plan  which  occurs  to  me  as  most  likely  to 
check  the  enormities  that  have  already  brought  disgrace  upon  this 
country,  and  may  soon  reduce  it  into  deep  distress. 

"  *  It  is  no  secret  that  a  persecution,  accompanied  with  all  the 
circun-  stances  of  ferocious  cruelty, which  have  in  all  ages  distinguished 
that  dreadful  calamity,  is  now  raging  in  this  country.    Neither  ago 


CRUELTY  OF  ORANGEMEN. 


377 


nor  sex,  nor  even  acknowledged  innocence,  as  to  any  guilt  in  the 
late  disturbances,  is  sufficient  to  excite  mercy,  much  less  to  afford 
protection. 

u  4  The  only  crime  which  the  wretched  objects  of  this  ruthless 
persecution  are  charged  with,  is  a  crime,  indeed,  of  easy  proof  j  it 
is  simply  a  profession  of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  or  an  intimate 
Connection  with  a  person  professing  this  faith.  A  lawless  banditti 
have  constituted  themselves  judges  of  this  new  species  of  delin- 
quency, and  the  sentence  they  have  denounced  is  equally  concise 
and  terrible.  It  is  nothing  less  than  a  confiscation  of  all  property, 
and  an  immediate  banishment.  It  would  be  extremely  painful,  and 
surely  unnecessary,  to  detail  the  horrors  that  are  attendant  on  the 
execution  of  so  rude  and  tremendous  a  proscription — one  that  cer- 
tainly exceeds,  in  the  comparative  number  of  those  it  consigns  to 
ruin  and  misery,  every  example  that  ancient  and  modern  history 
can  supply  ;  for  where  have  we  heard,  or  in  what  story  of  human 
cruelties  have  we  read,  of  half  the  inhabitants  of  a  populous  coun- 
try deprived,  at  one  blow,  of  the  means  as  well  as  the  fruits  of 
their  industry,  .and  driven,  in  the  midst  of  an  inclement  season,  to 
seek  a  shelter  for  themselves  and  their  helpless  families,  where 
chance  may  guide  them  1 

u  '  This  is  no  exaggerated  picture  of  the  horrid  scenes  that  are 
now  acting  in  this  country.' 

"  Here  is  the  first  fact  in  the  history  of  the  Orangemen.  They 
commenced  their  course  by  a  persecution,  with  every  circumstance 
of  terocious  cruelty.  These  lawless  banditti,  as  Lord  Gosford  called 
ihem,  showed  no  mercy  to  age,  nor  sex,  nor  acknowledged  inno- 
cence. And  this  is  not  the  testimony  of  a  man  favourable  to  the 
rights  of  those  persecuted  Catholics ;  he  avows  his  intolerance  in 
the  very  address  of  which  I  have  read  you  a  part ;  and  though  shocked 
at  these  Orange  enormities,  he  still  exults  in  his  hostility  to  eman- 
cipation. 

"  After  this  damning  fact  from  the  early  history  of  the  Orange- 
men, who  can  think  with  patience  on  the  revival  or  extension  of 


378 


ORANGE  ASSOCIATIONS. 


this  murderous  association  1    It  is  not,  it  ought  not,  it  cannot  be 

end  it  red,  that  such  an  association  should  be  restored  to  its  power  of 
mischief  by  abandoned  and  unprincipled  courtiers.  But  I  have 
got  in  my  possession  a  document  which  demonstrates  the  vulgar 
and  lowly  origin,  as  well  as  the  traitorous  and  profligate  purpose  of 
this  Orange  society.  It  has  been  repeatedly  sworn  to  in  judicial 
proceedings,  that  the  original  oath  of  an  Orangeman  was  an  oath 
to  exterminate  the  Catholics."7 

He  then  proceeded  to  read  some  extracts  from  a  book 

printed,  for  the  use  of  the  Orange  Lodges,  by  William 

M'Kenzie  iia  1810.    He  continued : — 

"  I  can  demonstrate  from  this  do^timent  that  the  Orange  is  a 
vulgar,  a  profligate,  and  a  treasonable  association.    To  prove  it 


7  At  a  time  when  vigorous  efforts  are  being  made  to  extend  the  Orange 
associations  both  in  England  and  Ireland,  it  would  be  well  that  Protest- 
ants as  well  as  Catholics  learned  more  of  their  true  princi^es.  At  the 
Orange  demonstration  in  Manchester  on  the  12th  of  July  lb^,  as  r6 
ported  by  the  Standard,  the  following  resolution  was  moved  and  seconded 
with  acclamation  : — 

"  That  the  admission  of  Roman  Catholics  to  Parliament  by  the  Act 
of  1829  has  led  to  the  corruption  of  political  parties,  by  inducing 
political  leaders  to  sacrifice  the  safeguards  of  Protestantism  for  the  sup« 
port  of  Roman  Catholics,  whose  one  great  purpose  is  the  supremacy  of 
their  own  Church— a  course  which,  if  permitted  to  continue,  must  b% 
destructive  of  that  civil  and  religious  liberty  which  has  so  long  been  the 
glory  of  England.  We  protest  against  such  conduct,  and  we  pledge 
ourselves  to  oppose  by  every  means  in  our  power  all  such  conces- 
sions." 

From  this  it  is  evident  that,  however  these  persons  may  have  advanced 
in  general  civilisation,  they  have  yet  to  learn  that  religious  liberty 
means  liberty  to  all.  The  liberty  they  demand  is  the  liberty  to 
exercise  intolerance.  In  the  north  of  Ireland,  on  the  same  day,  a  gal- 
lant colonel  made  an  exhibition  of  his  wife's  Orange  gown  before  an 
amused,  if  not  an  appreciative  audience.    He  said,  "  He  was  true  lo  hii 


CONCEALMENT  OF  CRIME. 


379 


treasonable,  I  read  the  following,  which  is  given  as  the  first  of  theii 
secret  articles  : — '  That  we  will  bear  true  allegiance  to  his  Majesty, 
his  heirs  and  successors,  so  long  as  he  or  they  support  the  Protestant 
ascendency.'  The  meaning  is  obvious,  the  Orangeman  will  be  loyal 
Inst  so  long  as  he  pleases.  The  traitor  puts  a  limit  to  his  allegiance, 
suited  to  what  he  shall  fancy  to  be  meant  by  the  words  'Protestant 
Ascendency.'  If  the  legislature  presumes  to  alter  the  law  for  the 
Irish  Catholics,  as  it  did  for  the  Hanoverian  Catholics,  then  is  the 
Orangeman  clearly  discharged  from  his  allegiance,  and  allowed,  at 
the  first  convenient  opportunity,  to  raise  a  civil  war;  and  this  is 
what  is  called  a  loyal  association.  Oh  !  how  different  from  the 
unconditional,  the  ample,  the  conscientious  oath  of  allegiance  of  the 
Irish  Catholic!" 

O'Counell  then  read  some  of  the  other  "  secret  resolu- 
tions," which  we  omit,  and  pass  to  the — 

"'8th  Secret  Article. — An  Orangeman  is  to  keep  a  brother's 
secrets  as  his  own,  unless  in  case  of  murder,  treason,  and  perjury,  and 
of  his  own  free  will.'  See  what  an  abundant  crop  of  crimes  the 
Orangeman  is  bound  to  conceal  for  his  brother  Orangeman.  Killing 
a  Papist  may,  in  his  eyes,  be  no  murder,  and  he  might  be  bound  to 
conceal  that  ;  but  he  is  certainly  bound  to  conceal  all  cases  of  riot, 
maiming,  wounding,  stabbing,  theft,  robbing,  rape,  housebreaking, 


colours  ;  and  when  evil  times  came  on  Ireland  he  was  turned  out  of  the 
magistracy  of  the  county  because  his  wife  wore  an  Orange  gown.  As 
there  were  ladies  present,  they  might  be  curious  to  see  the  Orange  gcwn, 
and  he  would  have  no  objection  to  produce  it."  (The  chairman,  amid 
laughter  and  cheers,  produced  from  a  leather  bag  some  square  yards  of 
silk— a  tolerably  well-preserved  relic  of  the  lady  to  whom  he  referred.) 
After  all,  it  was  a  harmless  exhibition  of  partisan  feeling.  Of  course,  it 
passed  unnoticed  by  the  English  press  ;  but  if  a  Catholic  had  made  a 
similar  exhibition,  some  very  strong  language  would  have  been  used  to 
describe  his  idiocy,  and  the  ad'air  would  have  been  reported  from  John 
0'  Groat's  House  to  Land's  End. 


380 


CRIMINAL  PRINCIPLES. 


house-burning,  and  every  other  human  villany,  save  murder,  treason, 
and  perjury.  These  are  the  good,  the  faithful,  the  loyal  subjects. 
They  may,  without  provocation  or  excuse,  attack  and  assault — give 
the  lint  assault,  mind,  when  they  are  certain  no  brother  can  be 
brought  to  trouble.  They  may  feloniously  and  burglariously  break 
into  dwellings,  and  steal,  take,  and  carry  away  whatever  they  will 
please  to  call  arms  and  ammunition.  And,  if  the  loyalty  of  a 
brother  tempts  him  to  go  a  little  further,  and  to  plunder  any  other 
articles,  or  to  burn  the  house,  or  to  violate  female  honour,  his 
brother  spectators  of  his  crime  are  bound  by  their  oaths  to  screen  it 
for  ever  from  detection  and  justice.  I  know  some  men  of  better 
minds  have  been,  in  their  horror  of  revolutionary  fury,  seduced 
into  these  Lodges,  or  have  unthinkingly  become  members  of  them  J 
but  the  spirit,  the  object,  and  the  consequences  of  this  murderous 
and  plundering  association,  are  not  the  less  manifest. 

"  I  do  not  calumniate  them  ;  for  I  prove  the  history  of  their 
foundation  and  origin  by  the  unimpeachable  testimony  of  Viscount 
Gosford,  and  I  prove  their  principles  by  their  own  secret  articles, 
the  genuineness  of  which  no  Orangeman  can  or  will  deny.  If  it 
were  denied,  I  have  the  means  of  proving  it  beyond  a  doubt.  And 
when  such  principles  are  avowed,  when  so  much  is  acknowledged 
and  printed,  oh,  it  requires  but  little  knowledge  of  human  nature 
to  ascertain  the  enormities  which  must  appear  in  the  practice  of 
those  who  have  confessed  so  much  of  the  criminal  nature  of  their 
principles. 

"  Thsre  is,  however,  one  consolation.  Tt  is  to  be  found  in 
their  ninth  secret  article — '  No  Romc^i  Catholic  can  be  admitted 
on  any  account.'  I  thank  them  for  it,  I  rejoice  at  it ;  no  Eoman 
Catholic  deserves  to  be  admitted ;  no  Roman  Catholic  would  desire 
to  belong  to  a  society  permitting  aggression  and  violence,  when  safe 
and  prudent,  permitting  robbery  to  a  certain  extent,  and  authorising 
treason  upon  a  given  contingency. 

"And  now  let  me  ask,  What  safety,  what  security  can  the 
minions  of  the  court  promise  to  themselves  from  the  encourage 


BEWARE  OF  ORAXGEMEN.  381 


ment  of  this  association  ?  They  do  want  security,  and  from  the 
Catholics  they  can  readily  have  it;  and  you,  my  friends,  may 
want  security,  not  from  the  open  attacks  of  the  Orangeman,  for 
against  those  the  law  and  your  own  courage  will  protect  you, 
bur  of  their  secret  machinations  you  ought  to  be  warned.  They 
will  endeavour,  nay,  I  am  most  credibly  assured,  that  at  this 
moment  their  secret  emissaries  are  endeavouring  to  seduce  you  into 
acts  of  sedition  and  treason,  that  they  may  betray  and  destroy  you. 
Recollect  what  happened  little  more  than  twelve  months  ago,  when 
the  board  detected  and  exposed  a  similar  delusion  in  Dublin.  Re- 
collect the  unpunished  conspiracy  which  was  discovered  at  Limerick; 
unpunished  and  unprosecuted  was  the  author.  Recollect  the  Mayor's 
Constable  of  Kilkenny,  and  he  is  still  in  office,  though  he  admini- 
stered an  oath  of  secrecy,  and  gave  money  to  his  spy  to  treat  the 
country  people  to  liquor  and  seduce  them  to  treason.  I  do  most 
earnestly  conjure  you  to  be  on  your  guard,  no  matter  in  what  shape 
any  man  may  approach  who  suggests  disloyalty  to  you,  no  matter  of 
what  religion  he  may  affect  to  be,  no  matter  what  compassion  he  may 
express  for  your  sufferings,  or  what  promises  he  may  make ;  believe 
me  that  any  man  who  may  attempt  to  seduce  you  into  any  secret 
association  or  combination  whatsoever,  that  suggests  to  you  any 
violation  of  the  law  whatsoever,  that  dares  to  utter  in  your  presence 
the  language  of  sedition  or  of  treason,  depend  upon  it — take  my 
word  for  it,  and  I  am  your  sincere  friend — that  every  such  man  is 
the  hired  emissary  and  the  spy  of  your  Orange  enemies — that  his 
real  object  is  to  betray  you,  to  murder  you  under  the  forms  of  a 
judicial  trial,  and  to  ruin  your  country  for  your  guilt.  If,  on  the 
contrary,  you  continue  at  this  trying  moment  peaceful,  obedient, 
and  loyal ;  if  you  avoid  every  secret  association,  and  every  incite- 
ment to  turbulence ;  if  you  persevere  in  your  obedience  to  the  laws, 
and  in  fidelity  to  the  Crown  and  Constitution,  your  emancipation  is 
certain  and  not  distant,  and  your  country  will  be  restored  to  you ; 
your  natural  friends  and  protectors  will  seek  the  redress  of  your 
grievances  in  and  from  Parliament,  and  Ireland  will  be  again  free 


3S2 


O'CONNELL'S  LOVE   OF  JUSTICE. 


and  happy.  If  you  suffer  yourself  to  be  seduced  by  these  Orange 
betrayers,  the  members  of  the  board  will  not  be  bound  to  resist  your 
crimes  with  their  lives  ;  you  will  bring  disgrace  and  ruin  on  our 
cause  ;  you  will  destroy  yourselves  and  your  families,  and  perpetuate 
the  degradation  and  disgrace  of  your  native  land.  But  my  fears 
a>e  vain.  I  know  your  good  sense;  I  rely  on  your  fidelity  ;  yoi. 
will  continue  to  baffle  your  enemies  ;  you  will  continue  faithful  and 
peaceable  ;  and  thus  shall  you  preserve  yourselves,  promote  your 
cause,  and  give  security  to  the  empire." 

Two  points  should  be  specially  noted  in  the  conclusion 
of  this  masterly  address  :  O'ConnelPs  love  of  justice, 
which  impelled  him  to  admit  that  there  were  members, 
even  of  Orange  lodges,  who  were  of  better  minds  than  their 
associates,  and  his  determined  out-spoken  abhorrence  of 
anything  even  approaching  to  secret  combinations,  how- 
ever speciously  such  combinations  might  be  framed  or 
excused. 

With  some  few,  and  not  very  honourable  exceptions,  those 
men  who  have  distinguished  themselves  most  in  public 
life  have  been  remarkable  for  the  practice  of  domestic 
virtue.  O'Connell's  attachment  to  his  wife  has  already 
been  mentioned.  She  was  certainly  not  a  woman  of  any 
remarkable  intellectual  calibre,  but  she  had  sufficient 
appreciation  of  her  husband's  value  to  give  him  the  just 
award  of  her  affectionate  approbation  in  his  career.  When 
separated,  as  they  were  frequently,  they  kept  up  an  affec- 
tionate correspondence,  and  Mrs  O'Connell  helped  the 
Liberator  by  her  earnest  sympathy  in  his  pursuits  when 


PREJUDICE  AGAIXST  O'CONNELL.  3S3 

she  could  not  help  him  by  any  personal  co-operation.  As 
.his  sons  grew  up,  they,  too,  took  their  share  in  his  work 
with  more  or  less  ability. 

But  O'Connell  belonged  to  the  public.  He  gave  his  life 
to  Ireland  ;  unhappy,  indeed,  will  Ireland  ever  be  if  she 
forgets  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  she  owes  to  her  most 
illustrious  son!  Other  men  have  fought  for  her,  or  died 
for  her.  Let  her  honour  them.  Those  who  are  faithful 
to  unfortunate  Ireland  deserve  the  praise  which  men  re- 
ceive who  lead  a  forlorn  hope.  O'Connell  led  Ireland 
on  until  she  won  the  noblest  victory  on  record,  because  it 
was  the  victory  of  mental  power  over  brute  force.  When 
the  memory  of  O'Connell  grows  dim  in  Irish  hearts — but 
I  may  not  pen  the  words  ;  his  memory  never  will  grow 
dim  while  there  is  an  Irishman  with  heart  to  love,  or  in- 
tellect to  cherish  it. 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  however,  that  some  of  those  very 
persor.s  who  are  most  sensibly  benefited  by  O'Connell  are 
not  grateful  to  him  for  the  concessions  he  obtained  for 
them.  Their  ingratitude  arises  principally  from  ignorance 
and  partly  from  prejudice.  From  ignorance,  because  those 
English  Catholics,  who  look  with  something  like  contempt 
on  O'Connell's  career,  are  seldom  well  informed,  or  fully 
informed  as  to  his  history ;  from  prejudice,  because  we 
believe  that  where  this  dislike  exists,  and  where  we  know 
it  now  to  exist,  it  arises  from  a  prejudice  against  O'Connell, 
because  at  times  neither  his  words  nor  his  manner  were 


384  HIS  STYLE  OF  SPEECH 

exact  ly  in  accordance  with  conventional  rules  of  etiquette. 
The  very  position  of  English  Catholics  of  the  upper  class 
lias  made  them  tenaciously  touchy  on  those  subjects.  It 
would  seem  as  if  they  forgot  that  some  of  those  who  have 
done  the  noblest  work  for  God  on  earth  have  not  been  what 
the  world  calls  gentlemen. 

Yet  after  a  careful  perusal  of  all  O'Connell's  speeches,  it 
is  difficult  to  find  more  than  a  few  words  here  and  there, 
which,  in  a  fastidious  audience  would  have  been  better 
unsaid ;  and  if  those  words  or  expressions  were  compared 
with  others  which  have  been  uttered  from  the  bench  and 
in  the  senate  at  the  present  day,  we  think  that  a  jury  would 
award  a  verdict  of  not  guilty  by  comparison  to  O'Connell.  It 
should  be  remembered  also  that  Berkeley  described  the 
Irish  aristocracy  of  the  day  as  "  Goths  in  ignorance,  spend- 
thrifts, drunkards,  and  debauchees."  It  was  evidently  not 
from  such  persons  that  O'Connell  could  learn  courtly 
manners. 

A  rough  and  ready  style  was  best  suited  to  O'Connell's 
work,  and  we  suspect  he  cultivated  it  purposely.  Eoche 8 
gives  an  account,  which,  he  says,  he  received  from  the 
Liberator  himself,  of  the  care  with  which  he  prepared  some 
of  his  speeches,  and  undoubtedly  there  are  passages  in 

8  Roche's  Essays,  vol.  ii.  p.  103.  He  says — "  His  earliest  exhibition 
as  an  orator  at  Cork  was  on  the  2d  September  1811,  at  the  first  great 
Catholic  meeting  held  there,  and  of  which  he  was  chairman.  He  made 
u  splendid  speech  of  two  hours'  duration,  which  he  passed  the  night  in 


EARLY  RISING.  385 

many  of  them  which  are  of  the  very  highest  order  of 
rhetorical  composition. 

Theil,  in  his  "  Sketches  of  the  Irish  Bar,"  has  given  an 
admirable  sketch  of  O'Connell's  daily  life  when  in  the 
zenitli  of  his  fame. 

He  says : — 

"If  any  of  you,  my  English  readers,  being  a  stranger  in  Dublin, 
should  chance  on  your  return  on  a  winter's  morning  from  one  of  tho 
small  and  early  parties  of  that  raking  metropolis — that  is  to  say, 
between  the  hours  of  five  and  six  o'clock — to  pass  along  the  south 
side  of  Merrion  Square,  you  will  net  fail  to  observe  that,  among 
those  splended  mansions,  there  is  one  evidently  tenanted  by  a  person 
whose  habits  differ  materially  from  those  of  his  fashionable  neigh- 
bours. The  half-opened  parlour  shutter,  and  the  light  within, 
announce  that  some  one  dwells  there  whose  time  is  too  precious  to 
permit  him  to  regulate  his  rising  with  the  sun's.  Should  your 
curiosity  tempt  you  to  ascend  the  steps,  and,  under  cover  of  the 
dark,  to  reconnoitre  the  interior,  you  will  see  a  tall,  able-bodied 
man  standing  at  a  desk,  and  immersed  in  solitary  occupation. 
Upon  the  wall  in  front  of  him  there  hangs  a  crucifix.  From  this, 
and  from  the  calm  attitude  of  the  person  within,  and  from  a  certain 
monastic  rotundity  about  his  neck  and  shoulders,  your  first  impres- 
sion will  be  that  he  must  be  some  pious  dignitary  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  absorbed  in  his  matin  devotions.  •  But  this  conjecture  will  be 
rejected  almost  as  soon  as  formed.  No  sooner  can  the  eye  take  in 
the  other  furniture  of  the  apartment — the  bookcases  clogged  with 


preparing  for  the  press,  and  which  I  saw  the  next  morning  fairly  written 
in  his  bold  flowing  hand,  exactly  as  he  had  pronounced  it,  though  he 
certainly  could  not  have  gotten  it  entirely  by  heart,  for  he  adverted  in 
its  course  to  various  matters  of  the  discussion." 

2b 


386 


A  PLODDING  BARRISTER, 


tomes  in  plain  calf  skin  binding,  and  blue-covered  octavos  that  lie 
about  on  the  tables  and  the  floor,  the  reams  of  manuscript  in  oblong 
folds  ;uul  begirt  with  crimson  tape — than  it  becomes  evident  that 
the  party  meditating  amidst  such  objects  must  be  thinking  far  more 
of  the  law  than  of  the  prophets. 

"  He  is,  unequivocally,  a  barrister,  but  apparently  of  that  homely, 
chamber  keeping,  plodding  cast  who  labour  hard  to  make  up  by 
assiduity  what  they  want  in  wit— who  are  up  and  stirring  before  the 
bird  of  the  morning  has  sounded  the  retreat  to  the  wandering 
spectre,  and  are  already  brain- deep  in  the  dizzying  vortex  of  mort- 
gages, and  cross-remainders,  and  mergers,  and  remitters,  while  his 
clients,  still  laped  in  sweet  oblivion  of  the  law's  delay,  are  fondly 
dreaming  that  their  cause  is  peremptorily  set  down  for  a  final  hear- 
ing. Having  come  to  this  conclusion,  you  push  on  for  home,  bless- 
ing your  stars  on  the  way  that  you  are  not  a  lawyer,  and  sincerely 
compassionating  the  sedentary  drudge  whom  you  have  just  detected 
in  the  performance  of  his  cheerless  toil.  But  should  you  happen, 
in  the  course  of  the  same  day,  to  stroll  down  to  the  Four  Courts, 
you  will  be  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  the  object  of  your  pity 
miraculously  transferred  from  the  severe  recluse  of  the  morning  into 
one  of  the  most  bustling,  important,  and  joyous  personages  in  that 
busy  scene.  There  you  will  be  sure  to  see  him,  his  countenance 
braced  up  and  glistening  with  health  and  spirits,  with  a  huge, 
plethoric  bag,  which  his  robust  arms  can  scarcely  contain,  clasped 
with  paternal  fondness  to  his  breast,  and  environed  by  a  living 
palisade  of  clients  and  attorneys,  with  outstretched  necks,  and 
mouths  and  ears  agape  to  catch  up  any  chance  opinion  that  may  be 
coaxed  out  of  him  in  a  colloquial  way ;  or  listening  to  what  the 
client  relishes  still  better — for  in  no  event  can  they  be  slided  to  a 
bill  of  costs — the  counsellor's  burst  of  jovial  and  familiar  humour; 
or,  when  he  touches  on  a  sadder  strain,  his  prophetic  assurances  that 
the  hour  of  Ireland's  redemption  is  at  hand.  You  perceive  at  once 
thit  you  have  lighted  upon  a  great  popular  advocate;  and,  if  you 
take  the  trouble  to  follow  his  movements  for  a  couple  of  hours 


%  KERR  VS  PRIDE  AXD  MUXSTERS  GLORY."  387 


through  the  several  courts,  you  will  not  fail  to  discover  the  qualities 
that  have  made  him  so — his  legal  competency,  his  business-like- 
habits,  his  sanguine  temperament — which  renders  him  not  merely 
the  advocate,  but  the  partisan  of  his  client — his  acuteness,  his 
fluency  of  thought  and  language,  his  unconquerable  good  humour, 
and,  above  all,  bis  versatility.  By  the  hour  of  three,  when  the 
judges  usually  rise,  you  will  have  seen  him  go  through  a  quantity 
of  business,  the  preparation  for  and  performance  of  which  would  be 
sufficient  to  wear  down  an  ordinary  constitution  ;  and  you  naturally 
suppose  that  the  remaining  portion  of  the  day  must,  of  necessity, 
be  devoted  to  recreation  or  repose.  But  here  again  you  will  be 
nii.>taken ;  for,  should  you  feel  disposed,  as  you  return  from  the 
courts,  to  drop  into  any  of  the  public  meetings  that  are  almost 
daily  held — for  some  purpose,  or  to  no  purpose — in  Dublin,  to  a 
certainty  you  will  find  the  counsellor  there  before  you,  the  presiding 
spirit  of  the  scene  ;  riding  in  the  whirlwind  and  directing  the  storm 
of  popular  debate  with  a  strength  of  lungs  and  a  redundancy  of 
animation  as  if  he  had  that  moment  started  fresh  for  the  labours  of 
the  day.  There  he  remains  until,  by  dint  of  strength  or  dexterity, 
he  has  carried  every  point ;  and  from  thence,  if  you  would  see  him 
to  the  close  of  the  day's  eventful  history,  you  will,  in  all  likelihood, 
hav<  to  follow  him  to  a  public  dinner;  from  which,  after  having 
acted  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  turbulent  festivity  of  the  evening, 
and  thrown  off  half-a-dozen  speeches  in  praise  of  Ireland,  he  retires 
at  a  late  hour,  to  repair  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  day  by  a  short 
interval  of  repose,  and  is  sure  to  be  found,  before  dawn-break 
next  morning,  at  his  solitary  post,  recommencing  the  routine 
of  his  restless  existence.  Now,  any  one  who  has  once  seen  in 
the  preceding  situation  the  able-bodied,  able-minded,  acting, 
talking,  multifarious  person  I  have  just  been  describing,  has  no 
occasion  to  inquire  his  name — he  may  be  assured  that  he  is  and  can 
be  no  other  than  '  Kerry's  pride  and  Munster's  glory ' — the  far- 
famed  and  indefatigable  Daniel  O'Connell.  His  frame  is  tall,  ex- 
panded, and  muscular — precisely  such  as  befits  a  man  of  the  people; 


388 


A   1  BOROUGH  PATRIOT. 


for  the  physical  classes  ever  look  with  double  confidence  and  affec- 
tion upon  a  leader  who  represents  in  his  own  person  the  qualities 
upon  which  they  rely.  In  his  face  he  has  been  equally  fortunate — . 
it  is  extremely  comely.  The  features  are  at  once  soft  and  manly : 
the  florid  glow  of  health  and  a  sanguine  temperament  are  diffused 
over  the  whole  countenance,  which  is  national  in  the  outline,  and 
braining  with  national  emotion;  the  expression  is  open  and  con 
fiding,  and  inviting  confidence;  there  is  not  a  trace  of  malignity  or 
wile —if  there  were,  the  bright  and  sweet  blue  eyes,  the  most  kindly 
and  honest  looking  that  can  be  conceived,  would  repel  the  imputa- 
tion. These  popular  gifts  of  nature  O'Connell  has  not  neglected  to 
set  off  by  his  external  carriage  and  deportment — or,  perhaps,  I 
should  rather  saj^  that  the  same  hand  which  has  moulded  the 
exterior,  has  supersaturated  the  inner  man  with  a  fund  of  restless 
propensity  which  it  is  quite  beyond  his  power,  as  it  is  certainly 
beside  his  inclination,  to  control.  A  large  portion  of  this  is  neces- 
sarily expended  upon  his  legal  avocations ;  but  the  labours  of  the 
most  laborious  of  professions  cannot  tame  him  to  repose.  After  de- 
ducting the  daily  drains  of  the  study  and  the  courts,  there  remains 
an  ample  residuum  of  animal  spirits  and  ardour  for  occupation, 
which  go  to  form  a  distinct  and,  I  might  say,  a  predominant  char- 
acter— tiie  political  chieftain.  The  existence  of  this  overweening 
vivacity  is  conspicuous  in  O'Connell's  manners  and  movements;  and 
being  a  popular,  and  more  particularly  a  national  quality,  greatly 
recommends  him  to  the  Irish  people — mobilitate  viget ;  body  and 
soul  are  in  a  state  of  permanent  insurrection.  See  him  in  the 
streets,  and  you  perceive  at  once  that  he  is  a  man  who  has  sworn 
that  his  country's  wrongs  shall  be  avenged.  A  Dublin  jury  (if 
judiciously  selected)  would  find  his  very  gait  and  gestures  to  be 
high  treason  by  construction,  so  explicitly  do  they  enforce  the 
national  sentiment  of  <  Ireland  her  own — or  the  world  in  a  blaze ! ' 
As  he  marches  to  court,  he  shoulders  his  umbrella  as  if  it  were  a 
pike.  He  flings  out  one  factious  foot  before  the  other  as  if  he  had 
already  burst  his  bonds,  and  was  kicking  the  Protestant  ascendency 


SACRIFICE  OF  PLEASURE. 


389 


before  him  ;  while  ever  and  anon,  a  democratic,  broad-shouldered 
roll  of  the  upper  man  is  manifestly  an  indignant  effort  to  shuffle  off 
the  oppression  of  seven  hundred  years.  This  intensely  national 
sensibility  is  the  prevailing  peculiarity  in  O'Connell's  character; 
for  it  is  not  only  when  abroad  and  in  the  popular  gaze  that  Irish 
affairs  seem  to  press  upon  his  heart  —  the  same  Erin-go br a gh 
fueling  follows  him  into  the  most  technical  details  of  his  forensic 
occupations.  Give  him  the  most  dry  and  abstract  position  of  law 
to  support — the  most  remote  that  imagination  can  conceive  from 
the  violation  of  the  Irish  Parliament,  and  ten  to  one  hut  he 
will  contrive  to  interweave  a  patriotic  episode  upon  those  examples 
of  British  domination.  The  people  are  never  absent  from  his 
thoughts.  He  tosses  up  a  bill  of  exceptions  to  a  judge's  charge  in 
the  name  of  Ireland,  and  pockets  a  special  retainer  with  the  air  of 
a  man  that  doats  upon  his  country.  There  is,  perhaps,  some  share 
of  exaggeration  in  all  this;  but  much  less,  I  do  believe,  than  is 
generally  suspected,  and  I  apprehend  that  he  would  scarcely  pass 
for  a  patriot  without  it  ;  for,  in  fact,  he  has  been  so  successful,  and 
looks  so  contented,  and  his  elastic,  unbroken  spirits  are  so  disposed 
to  bound  and  frisk  for  very  j<>y — in  a  word,  lie  has  naturally  so  bad 
a  face  for  a  grievance,  that  his  political  sincerity  might  appear 
equivocal,  were  there  not  some  clouds  of  patriotic  grief  or  indigna- 
tion to  temper  the  sunshine  that  is  for  ever  bursting  through 
them." 

It  must  have  been  no  small  sacrifice  to  a  man  who 
enjoyed  society  as  O'Connell  did,  to  absent  himself  from 
social  circles.  The  resolution  of  the  man's  character  was 
as  unselfish  in  this  as  in  his  life-long  devotion  to  the  cue 
pursuit.    It  was,  indeed,  a  part  of  his  pursuit. 

As  a  raconteur  he  was  probably  unequalled.  With  the 
best  of  memories,  with  a  quick  wit  to  seize  the  point  of 
any  incident,  and  with  an  admirable  manner  of  relating 


890 


JERRY  KELLER. 


it,  lie  could  not  fail  to  take  pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  hia 
gift,  as  well  as  to  give  pleasure  to  others.  Let  Ireland 
remember,  when  she  counts  up  her  debt  of  gratitude  to 
O'Connell,  how  many  nights  he  deprived  himself  of  neces- 
sary rest,  and  how  many  days  he  deprived  himself  o( 
that  relaxation,  which,  for  most  men  in  his  position,  and 
undertaking  his  labours,  would  have  been  considered  a 
necessity  rather  than  an  indulgence. 

His  bar  anecdotes  were  amongst  the  most  amusing. 
Several  are  recorded  which  relate  to  the  well-known  Jerry 
Keller  :— 

"  Jerry,"  said  O'Connell,  "  was  an  instance  of  great  waste  of 
talent.  He  was  the  son  of  a  poor  farmer  near  Kanturk,  named 
Keleher,  which  Jerry  anglicised  into  Keller  when  he  went  to  the 
bar.  He  was  an  excellent  classical  scholar,  and  had  very  consider- 
able natural  capacity  ;  but  although  he  had  a  good  deal  of  business 
Bt  the  bar,  his  success  was  far  from  being  what  he  might  have 
attained  had  he  given  his  whole  soul  to  his  profession.  His  readi- 
ness of  retort  was  great.  Baron  Smith  once  tried  to  annoy  him  on 
his  change  of  name  at  a  bar  dinner.  They  were  talking  of  the 
Irish  language.  <  Your  Irish  name,  Mr  Keller,'  said  the  baron, 
'is  Diarmuid  ua  Cealleachair?  4  It  is,'  answered  Jerry,  nothing 
tinted,  '  and  yours  is  Laimh  Gabha.'  There  was  a  great  laugh  at 
the  baron's  expense— a  sort  of  thing  that  nobody  likes." 

"  Another  time,"  said  O'Connell,  "  when  the  bar  were  dining 
together  on  a  Friday,  a  blustering  young  barrister  named  Norcott, 
of  great  x>rtteiuioii  with  but  slender  materials  to  support  it. 
observed  that  Jerry  was  eating  fish  instead  of  meat,  and  by  way  of 
jeering  Jerry  (who  had  been  originally  a  Catholic),  said  to  him  : 
'  So  you  won't  eat  meat  ?  Why  I  did  not  think,  Jerry,  you  had  so 
much  of  the  Pope  in  your  belly/    <  For  all  the  meat  in  the  market/ 


LORD  CLARE 


39i 


■aid  Jerry,  'I  would  not  ha^e  as  much  of  the  Pretender  in  my  head 
u  you  have.1  M 

Jerry  was  a  member  of  a  famous  convivial  society  who 
denominated  themselves  the  44  Monks  of  the  Screw.1'  Lord 
Avonniore  was  a  "  monk  M  also,  and  as  long  as  he  lived 
Jerry's  bag  was  lull.  After  the  death  of  this  nobleman 
lie  sank  into  poverty,  yet  he  still  went  circuit,  and  held 
his  place  as  senior  at  the  mess,  where  his  humour  never 
deserted  him,  though  it  became  somewhat  embittered  by 
his  mi-fort  ones. 

Of  Lord  Clare,  O'Connell  used  to  tell  the  following  anec- 
dote : — 

"Lord  Clare's  enmity  to  Ireland,"  said  O'Conncll,  "was  once 
nearly  ended  by  an  assassin.  In  1 7 1>  1 ,  he  was  carrying  :v  bill 
Arongh  the  rrish  Parliament  for  compelling  the  aocountaut  of  the 
Court  of  Exchequer  to  return  his  accounts  whenever  called  upon  by 
the  court.  These  summary  accounts  would  have  been  very  incon- 
venient to  Baron  Power,  who.  as  junior  baron,  tilled  the  office  of 
accountant.  lie  lived  extravagantly — making  use  of  the  money  of 
the  public  that  came  into  his  hands,  and  Looking  to  future  good  luck 
to  enable  him  to  reckon  with  the  owners.  The  bill  would  have  been 
his  ruin  ;  and  after  many  ineffectual  efforts  to  dissuade  Lord  Clare 
from  pressing  it,  be  at  last  resolved  in  a  fit  of  desperation  to  Rasas* 
Miute  him.  So  lie  drove  to  Ely  Place  with  a  brace  of  loach'. I  piste ii 
in  In.s  pocket,  and  asked  to  see  Lord  Clare,  who  providentially  wua 

from  home.  Baron  Tower  then  resolved  on  suicide,  and  ordered 
his  coachman  to  drive  him  along  the  North  Wall.  When  he  had 
got  to  a  considerable  distance  out  of  town  ho  quitted  the  carriage, 
desired  the  coachman  to  await  his  return,  and  walked  on  alone 
towards  the  Pigeon  House.  He  tied  his  hands  together  in 
order  to  deprive  himself  of  the  power  of  Bwimming,  and  jumped 


392 


CROSBIE  MORGAN. 


into  the  sea  from  the  pier.  It  was  afterwards  remarked  aa 
curious  that  he  walked  off  to  drown  himself  using  an  umbrella,  as 
the  day  was  wet.  One  would  think  the  sprinkling  of  a  shower 
would  not  much  incommode  a  fellow  who  was  resolved  on  a  watery 
doath.  Think  of  a  man  going  to  drown  himself  with  an  umbrella 
to  keep  out  the  wet. 

"  Shortly  after,  Crosbie  Morgan,  one  of  the  oddest  of  odd  attor- 
neys, also  drowned  himself.  The  ballad-mongers  shouted  their 
accounts  of  these  events  through  Dublin,  crying  out :  '  Great  times 
for  Ireland!  One  judge  drowned!  One  attorney  drowned!' 
They  had  also:  4  Last  speech  and  dying  words  of  Crosbie  Morgan!' 
which  instead  of  ending  with  the  approved  finish  of  the  penitent 
declaration  of  Catholic  criminals — namely,  '  I  die  an  unworthy 
member  of  the  Church  of  Rome,'  ended  thus  :  *  I  die  an  unworthy 
mongrel  of  neither  church.' 

"  '  Crosbie  Morgan,'  said  O'Connell,  '  was  a  very  eccentric  fellow. 
He  probably  made  more  money  than  any  other  attorney  of  his  time. 
He  had  eleven  clerks  in  his  office,  and  every  clerk  was  an  attorney. 
Great  as  were  his  gains,  his  expenditure  was  greater.  Whenever  he 
travelled  to  Dublin  he  used  to  engage  all  the  post-chaises  at  every 
inn  where  he  slept  along  the  road ;  and  if  he  found  any  gentlemen 
of  his  acquaintance  going  to  town,  he  invariably  gave  them  seats 
gratis.  His  own  personal  suite  always  filled  two  or  three  of  the 
carriages.' 

"'Had  Baron  Power,'  continued  O'Connell,  reverting  to  Lord  Clare, 
'murdered  Fitzgibbon,  Pitt  would  have  found  much  more  difficulty 
in  carrying  the  Union.  Castlereagh,  although  as  vile,  shameless, 
and  indefatigable  a  tool  as  ever  corruption  had,  could  not,  unaided 
by  the  commanding  energy  of  Clare,  have  succeeded  so  well  in  the 
dirty  work.  Clare  had  great  intellectual  powers.  He  lived  at  a 
period  fertile  in  monsters — Clare  was  a  monster.  He  was  a  kind  of 
petticoat  Robespierre.  His  father  was  a  barrister  of  considerable 
eminence.  Old  Fitzgibbon  and  his  brother  were  the  first  persona 
w  ho  introduced  the  system  of  reporting  the  proceedings  of  the  Eng< 


HONESTY. 


lish  law  courts  in  the  public  newspapers  without  the  authority  of 
the  presiding  judge.  They  were  students  in  the  Temple  at  the  time, 
nnd  fjord  Mansfield  tried  to  put  a  stop  to  the  practice,  but  tho 
Fitzgibbons  persevered  and  succeeded.  Clare  was  atrociously  bigoted 
igainst  the  Catholics.  A  Protestant  friend  of  mine,  who  often 
met  him  at  the  whist  parties  of  an  old  dowager,  told  me  nothing 
could  possibly  eAceed  the  contemptuous  acerbity  with  which  on 
these  occasions  he  spoke  of  the  Catholics.  '  The  scum  of  the  earth/ 
nnd  such  like  phrases,  were  the  epithets  he  habitually  applied  to 
them.' " 

Some  one  having  alluded  to  the  temptation  to  amass  large  sums 
nflorded  by  facility  and  security  from  detection,  O'Connell  told  the 
following  anecdote:  "I  knew  a  person  named  Barnewell,  who, 
while  staying  in  Dublin,  was  commissioned  by  a  friend  in  the 
country  to  purchase  a  lottery-ticket.  The  choice  of  the  number 
was  left  to  Barnewell,  who  accordingly  selected  and  paid  for  a  ticket. 
It  turned  up  a  prize  of  £10.000.  He  had  the  most  thorough  faci- 
lity for  retaining  the  amount.  All  he  need  do  was  to  buy  his 
friend  some  other  ticket.  No  one  could  say  that  he  had  not  duly 
executed  his  commission.  But  Barnewell  reasoned  thus  with  him- 
self :  'If,'  said  he,  1  my  friend  had  not  commissioned  me  to  buy  the 
ticket  for  him,  I  never  would  have  bought  it  for  myself.  It  there- 
fore is  rightly  his  ;  and  to  put  myself  beyond  the  reach  of  casuistry, 
I'll  lodge  the  amount  to  his  credit  immediately,  and  apprise  him 
that  I  have  done  so  by  this  night's  post ; '  which  honest  Barne- 
well accordingly  did.  I  recollect  when  I  was  a  younker,  my  uncle 
gave  me  £300  in  goid,  to  get  changed  into  notes  at  Cotter  &  Kel- 
lett's  bank.  The  clerk,  through  stupidity,  gave  me  £400,  of  which 
£300  were  in  small  notes,  and  the  rest  in  a  £100  note.  I  pointed 
out  his  blunder  ;  and  he/  in  a  very  surly  manner,  and  without  look- 
ing at  the  heap  of  notes,  insisted  that  I  must  be  wrong,  for  that  he 
never  mistook.  I  persisted  ;  he  was  sulky  and  obstinate.  At  last 
our  altercatk.n  attracted  the  notice  of  Cotter,  who  came  over  and 
asked  what  was  the  matter.    I  told  him  I  had  get  £100  too  much 


304 


A    VIGOROUS  MEASURE. 


lie  reckoned  the  money,  and  then  took  off  the  .£100,  saying,  'Nov* 
it  is  all  right '  I  begged  he  would  let  me  retain  that  note,  as  my 
uncle  was  desirous  to  get  the  largest  note  he  could  ;  and,  I  assure 
vou,  it  was  with  no  trifling  difficulty  I  could  prevail  on  the  old 
gentleman  to  take  his  .£100  in  small  notes  ! " 

When  O'Connell  was  at  the  Limerick  assizes  in  1812, 
Standish  O'  Grady  asked  O'Connell  to  go  with  him  to  the 
play. 

"  O'Connell  declined,  observing  that  the  Limerick  grand  jurors 
were  not  the  pleasantest  folk  in  the  world  to  meet  after  dinner. 
O'Gnidy  went,  but  soon  returned.  4  Dan/  said  he,  '  you  were 
quite  right.  I  had  not  been  five  minutes  in  the  box,  when  some 
ten  or  a  dozen  noisy  gentlemen  came  into  it.  It  was  small 
and  crowded  ;  and,  as  I  observed  that  one  of  the  party  had  his 
head  quite  close  to  a  peg  on  which  I  had  hung  my  hat,  I  said 
very  politely,  "  I  hope,  sir,  my  hat  does  not  incommode  you  ;  if  it 
does,  pray  allow  me  to  remove  it."  "  Faith,"  said  he,  "  you  may  be 
sure  it  does  not  incommode  me  ;  for  if  it  did,  d — n  me,  but  I 'd 
have  kicked  it  out  of  the  box,  and  yourself  after  it  !  "  So,  lest  the 
worthy  juror  should  change  his  mind  as  to  the  necessity  of  such 
a  vigorous  measure,  I  quietly  put  my  hat  on,  and  took  myself 
off.' " 

It  will  scarcely  be  expected  that  the  Liberator  would 
he  an  admirer  of  Irish  parsons,  however  friendly  he 
might  be  with  Irish  Protestants.  Nor  can  it  be  said  that 
their  character  at  that  period  was  such  as  to  command 
respect  even  from  their  own  flocks.  To  read  prayers  once 
on  Sunday,  if  they  had  a  congregation,  was  the  extent  of 
the  ecclesiastical  administration  of  their  parishes,  if,  in- 
deed, we  except  the  time  spent  in  tithe-hunting.  And 


A  CRACK  PREACHER. 


395 


this  occupation,  of  which  we  shall  say  more  hereafter,  cer- 
tainly did  not  tend  to  increase  respect  for  their  office. 

O'Connell  used  to  relate  an  amusing  case  in  which  he 
was  engaged  against  a  parson  for  a  breach  of  promise  of 
marriage.  The  lady  was  a  Miss  Fitzgerald ;  the  gentleman, 
Parson  Hawkes worth. 

u  Hawkesworth,"  said  he,  "  had  certainly  engaged  the  lady's 
affections  very  much.  He  had  acquired  fame  enough  to  engage  her 
ambition.  He  was  a  crack  preacher — had  been  selected  to  preach 
before  the  Lord-Lieutenant ;  his  name  occasionally  got  into  the 
papers,  which  then  was  not  often  the  case  with  private  persons;  and, 
no  doubt,  this  notoriety  had  its  weight  in  the  lady's  calculations. 
The  correspondence  read  uron  the  trial  was  comical  enough.  The 
lady,  it  appeared,  had  at  one  period  doubted  his  fidelity,  whereupon 
the  parson  writes  to  re-assure  her  in  these  words: — 'Don't  believe 
any  one  who  says  I  '11  jilt  you  !  They  lie,  who  say  so  ;  and  I  pray 
that  all  such  liars  may  be  condemned  to  an  eternity  of  itching 
without  the  benefit  of  scratching  ! 1  £3000  damages  were  given 
against  him.  He  was  unable  to  pay,  and  decamped  to  America  upon 
a  preaching  speculation,  which  proved  unsuccessful  He  came  back 
to  Ireland,  and  married  ike  prosecutrix /" 

Whatever  may  have  been  O'Connell's  capabilities  in  the 
way  of  using  language  which  was  more  forcible  than  ele- 
gant, there  is  no  doubt  that  he  found  example  in  Parson 
Hawkesworth. 

The  following  anecdote  is  a  specimen  of  the  fashion  in 
which  justice  was  administered  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century : — 

"In  the  year  1798,"  said  O'Connell,  "my  friend  ,  and  his 

two  brothers,  were  taken  prisoners  by  a  magistrate  who  owed  their 


306 


8  A  TISFACTION. 


mother  X2000.  The  worthy  justice  went  to  that  lady  and  said, 
'If  you  don't  release  my  bond,  I'll  have  your  sons  flogged  and 
banged.'  '  Sir,'  answered  she,  '  if  you  were  to  treat  me  in  that 
manner,  you  could  not  extort  the  bond  from  me;  and  I  am  much 
mistaken  if  my  sons  have  not  at  least  as  much  firmness  as  their 
mother.'    Fortunately  Judge  Day,  who  was  a  very  humane  man, 

went  the  circuit ;  and  as  no  witnesses  appeared  against  the  , 

he  discharged  them  by  proclamation.  In  pronouncing  their  dis- 
charge, Day  gave  the  young  men  a  sort  of  moral  and  political  lecture, 
in  which  he  congratulated  them  on  their  escape,  and  advised  loyal 
conduct  for  the  future.  4  You  have  no  business  to  lecture  us,  my 
lord,'  said  ,  '  as  if  we  were  guilty  of  disloyalty.  We  are  per- 
fectly innocent,  and  are  quite  as  loyal  as  your  lordship.  Had  our 
enemies  been  able  to  establish  any  sort  of  case  against  us,  they 
would  not  have  failed  to  produce  their  witnesses.  It  is  too  bad 
then,  my  lord,  to  lecture  us  as  if  our  conduct  had  in  any  respect 
been  censurable/    Day,  who  was  a  thorough  gentleman,  bowed  and 

said  :  '  You  are  quite  right,  Mr  ,  and  I  was  quite  wrong.  I 

beg  your  pardon.'  Next  morning  the  eldest  brother  was  again 
seized  and  thrown  into  jail  by  the  machinations  of  the  worthy 
magistrate  who  owed  his  mother  money.  The  jailer  was  a  savage 
brute,  and  took  every  opportunity  of  tormenting  him.  One  day  he 
came  to  his  cell,  and  said,  with  a  diabolical  grin,  '  I  've  news  that 
is  bitter  to  you  and  pleasant  to  me — your  two  brothers  have  been 

hanged,  and  you  are  to  be  strung  up  to-morrow  ! '    Mr  was 

well  enough  aware  of  the  frightful  character  of  the  times  to  know 
that  this  was  at  least  possible.  '  Is  what  you  have  told  me  really 
true?'  he  asked  of  the  jailer.    '  Upon  my  oath,  it  is,'  returned  the 

jailer.    '  Then,  my  man/  cried  Mr  ,  *  before  I  leave  this  world, 

I  shall  have  the  satisfaction  of  giving  you  as  good  a  licking  as  ever 
man  got.'  So  saying,  he  pounced  upon  the  jailer  and  wallopped 
him  awfully.     The  jailer  screamed,  and  his  screams  attracted 

persons  without,  who  would  have  fired  at  Mr  through  the 

grating  in  the  door,  only  that  he  constantly  kept  the  jailer  between 


RETALIATION. 


397 


himself  and  the  door.    Mr    continued  to  thrash  the  jailer 

until  he  was  unable,  from  exhaustion,  to  thrash  him  any  longer. 
The  jailer  then  went  off,  and  soon  returned  with  sixty-eight  pounds 
weight  of  irons,  with  which  he  and  his  assistants  loaded  their 
irisonei.  When  ironed  he  was  laid  on  a  bed,  and  the  jailer  beat 
him  with  a  loaded  blackthorn  stick  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  stand 
over  him.  He  then  kept  him  forty-eight  hours  without  food  ;  and 
when  the  commanding-officer  who  inspected  the  prison  arrived,  he 

was  utterly  a>tonished  how  Mr  survived  the  treatment  he  had 

received.  Finding  that  there  was  not  the  shadow  of  any  accusation 
agaii  st  him.  that  officer  set  him  free  upon  his  own  responsibility. 
What  times  ! exclaimed  0  Connell  after  he  had  narrated  this  in- 
cident. "  What  a  scene!  The  prisoner  thrashing  the  jailer,  and 
the  jailer  thrashing  his  prisoner  !  What  a  country  in  which  such 
things  could  be  enacted  !"9 


■  We  may  be  thankful  that  there  id  no  parallel  for  such  circumstances 
in  Ireland  at  the  present  day  ;  but  we  cannot  forget  that  equal,  if  not 
greater,  atrocities  have  been  committed  recently  under  British  rule  in 
Jamaica  and  in  India  ;  yet  the  Irish  are  spoken  and  written  of  as  if  they 
were  still  a  nation  of  savages,  and  as  if  England  should  be  their  model. 
We  quote  the  following  from  the  Nation,  20th  July  1872.  While  Eng- 
land gives  no  better  example,  it  can  scarcely  expect  the  Irish  peasant  to 
believe  it  a  safe  guide. 

"  One  of  our  weekly  London  contemporaries  took  genial  occasion  to 
speak  of  the  Irish  people — it  was  only  last  Saturday — as  1  one  of  the 
inferior  races  for  whom  we' — bold  Britons— 'are  morally  bound  to  have 
all  compassion  and  commiseration/  Side  by  side  with  tnia  paternal 
outburst  of  sympathy  for  our  inferiority,  the  same  journal  condenses  the 
list  of  the  criminal  calendar  for  the  previous  seven  days,  which  is  well 
worth  pondering.  The  list  comprises  the  murder  of  a  woman  at  Dart- 
ford  ;  a  case  of  murder  at  Norfolk  (sentence  of  death  passed) ;  a  trigamy 
at  Durham  :  a  manslaughter  at  Warwick ;  an  attempt  at  murder  at  the 
same  place  ;  a  murder  at  Southsea  ;  a  suicide  in  Dorsetshire  ;  a  murder 
at  Chorley  ;  an  infanticide  in  Shropshire  ;  a  stabbing  case  in  Yorkshire; 
a  murder  and  suicide  at  Wakefield  ;  assaults  by  drunken  boys  in  Cler- 


398 


A  SHARP   TOUT 3 


The  Dublin  Evening  Post  was  then  the  liberal  paper  of 
the  day.  During  the  war  the  latest  news,  old  as  it  might 
l.e,  was  as  eagerly  sought  for  as  the  last  telegram  at  the 
present  time.  The  celebrated  John  Magee,  of  whom  more 
hereafter,  was  the  proprietor.  In  connection  with  this 
paper  O'Connell  used  to  tell  an  amusing  anecdote  : — 

u  One  day  during  the  war  James  Connor  and  I  dined  at  Mr 
Mahony's,  in  Dublin,  and  after  dinner  we  heard  the  news-vendors, 
as  usual,  calling  out,  '  The  Post  !  The  Dublin  Evening  Post  !  Three 
packets  in  to-night's  Post  /'  The  arrival  of  the  packets  was  at  that 
time  irregular,  and  eagerly  looked  for.  We  all  were  impatient  for 
the  paper,  and  Mahony  gave  a  fivepenny  piece  to  his  servant,  a 
Kerry  lad,  and  told  him  to  go  down  and  buy  the  Post.  The  boy 
returned  in  a  minute  with  a  Dublin  Evening  Post  a  fortnight  old. 
The  roguish  news-vendor  had  palmed  off  an  old  newspaper  on  the 
unsuspecting  Kerry  tiger.  Mr  Mahony  stormed,  Connor  and  I 
laughed,  and  Connor  said,  '  I  wonder,  gossoon,  how  you  let  the 
fellow  cheat  you  1    Has  not  your  master  a  hundred  times  told  you 


ken  well; i  disgusting  assaults  by  a  Scripture  reader'  in  South  wark,  and 
a  host  of  robberies  which  we  have  not  time  to  particularise  ;  a  man- 
slaughter in  Smithfield  ;  a  murder  at  Uxbridge  ;  a  double  murder  in 
Hoxton  ;  a  murder  in  Marylebone  ;  a  manslaughter  at  Willenhall ;  the 
discovery  of  three  dead  bodies  in  Kentish-town  ;  a  murder  at  Leeds ; 
an  attempted  murder  in  Clerkenwell ;  a  suicide  at  Dover  ;  and,  finally, 
an  atrocious  case  of  murder  in  Carmarthenshire  !  In  the  Irish  news  oi 
the  same  journal  the  week's  chronicle  of  Irish  crime  cuts  a  poor  figure 
by  the  side  of  its  English  and  more  enterprising  relative.  It  sets  forth 
with  deadly  precision  the  report  of  an  attempted  agrarian  outrage  in 
Meath,  and  the  sending  of  a  threatening  letter  to  Sir  Arthur  Guinness, 
and  there  it  ends.  On  the  whole,  we  are  not  ashamed  of  the  comparison, 
and  we  cheerfully  acknowledge  our  inferiority— in  crime  only— to  a 
people  whose  unbridled  passions  and  murderous  instincts  have  penned 
this  blood-red  chronicle  of  atrocities  within  the  brief  space  of  one  week!" 


DARR  TNA  N  E  HOUSE. 


3£> 


that  the  dry  papers  are  always  old  and  good  for  nothing,  and  that 
new  papers  are  always  wet  from  the  printing-office  1  Here 's  another 
fivepenny.  Be  off  now,  and  take  care  to  bring  us  in  a  wet  Post.' 
1  Oh,  never  you  mind  the  fi'penny,  sir,'  said  the  boy,  'I'll  get  the 
paper  without  it;' and  he  darted  out  of  the  room,  while  Mahony 
cried  out.  '  Hang  that  young  blockhead,  he  '11  blunder  the  business 
again.'  But  in  less  than  five  minutes  the  lad  re-entered  with  a 
iresh,  wet  paper.  We  were  all  surprised,  and  asked  him  how  he 
managed  to  get  it  w  ithout  money.  '  Oh,  the  aisiest  way  in  life, 
your  honour.'  said  the  urchin  ;  '  I  just  took  the  dry  old  Post,  and 
cried  it  down  the  street  a  bit — Dublin  Evening  Post  .'  Dublin 
L 'veiling  Post  I  and  a  fool  of  a  gentleman  meets  me  at  the  corner, 
and  buys  my  ould  dry  paper.  So  I  whips  across  to  a  newsman  I 
sees  over  the  way,  and  buys  this  line,  fresh  new  Post  for  your  honour 
with  the  money  I  got  for  the  ould  one.' " 

But,  however  OTonnell  may  have  enjoyed  bar-society 
and  bar-jokes,  there  can  be  no  question  that  home,  as  he 
considered  Darrynane  Abbey,  was  the  place  he  loved  best. 
We  do  not  like  to  think  how  sorrowful  his  heart  must  have 
been  when  he  looked  at  it  for  the  last  time. 

Darrynane  House  is  situated  close  to  a  little  bay,  which 
is  separated  from  the  harbour  of  Ballinskilligs  by  a  rocky 
promontory  called  the  Abbey  Island.  Here  are  the  ruin3 
already  described,  and  of  which  we  have  given  an  illustra- 
tion. Many  of  the  CTConnell  family  lie  here,  taking  their 
long  rest  after  the  troubled  life  of  the  good  old  times. 

The  coast  is  wild  and  grand  ;  for  the  Atlantic  waves  dash 
in  summer  and  winter  in  great  waves  on  the  rock-bound 
shore.  Until  the  year  1839,  when  the  new  road  from 
Cahirciveen  was   completed,   men   were  employed  with 


400 


W  CON  NELL  AT  HOME. 


ropes  to  drag  the  carriages  along  some  four  or  five  miles  of 
road,  which  was  too  precipitous  for  any  other  mode  of 
Transit. 

"  The  house  is  sheltered  to  the  north  and  west  by  mountains, 
ranging  from  1500  to  2000  feet  in  height.  On  the  east,  the  view 
is  bounded  by  a  chain  of  high  rocks,  that  divide  the  bay  of  Darry- 
1 1 a i i e  from  that  of  Kenmare.  Close  to  the  house  is  a  thriving  plan- 
tation called  the  shrubbery,  covering  some  ten  or  twelve  acres  of  a 
most  rocky  and  irregular  tract,  through  the  irregularities  of  which 
there  are  many  very  pretty  winding  walks.  In  the  midst  of  this 
shrubbery,  perched  high  aloft  upon  an  ivied  rock,  is  a  small  circular 
turret,  commanding,  over  the  tops  of  the  young  trees,  a  view  of  the 
ocean  and  of  the  neighbouring  hills.  To  this  turret,  Mr  O'Conneil 
frequently  retired  to  cogitate  in  solitude  over  his  future  political 
movements.  He  had  also  a  favourite  walk  in  the  garden,  which  is 
picturesquely  situated  amongst  rocks,  and  contains  some  of  the  finest 
old  hollies  I  have  ever  seen. 

"  Danynane  House  possesses  tolerable  accommodation,  although 
it  often  proved  scarcely  sufficient  for  the  numbers  attracted  by  the 
hospitable  habits  and  political  celebrity  of  the  owner.  It  was  built 
at  different  periods,  and  without  the  slightest  regard  to  any  uniform 
plan  of  architecture  ;  a  room  was  added  whenever  there  arose  a 
demand  for  increased  accommodation  ;  so  that  the  whole  mass  pre- 
sents a  curious  cluster  of  small  buildings  of  different  dates,  heights, 
and  sizes." 

We  shall  let  Mr  O'Neill  Daunt  describe  O'Conneil  at 
home : — 

"  On  the  third  or  fourth  morning  after  my  arrival  at  Darrynane, 
I  was  summoned  by  Mr  O'Conneil  to  accompany  the  hunting  party. 
It  was  not  quite  six  o'clock — the  morning  was  clear  and  bright, 
and  gave  promise  of  a  beautiful  day.  We  followed  a  winding  path 
called  '  The  Meadow  Walk,'  which  crosses  and  recrosses  a  merry 


A  LUXURIOUS  FEAST. 


401 


mountain  brook  ;  we  ascended  the  hill  of  Coomakista,  crossed  tho 
line  of  the  new  road,  and  ere  half  an  hour  had  elapsed,  a  hare  was 
started.  It  was  a  glorious  run ;  the  hare  was  in  view  for  half  a 
mile  or  more  ;  and  as  the  dogs  ran  the  scent,  they  kept  so  close  to- 
gether, that  a  sheet  might  have  covered  the  pack.  O'Connell,  who 
enjoyed  the  hunt  with  infinite  glee,  walked  and  ran  from  rock  to 
rock,  to  keco  the  dogs  in  view.  The  mountain  air  had  already 
sharpened  my  appetite,  and  I  inquired  rather  anxiously  when  we 
should  have  breakfast. 

u  1  Xot  until  we  kill  two  hares,'  replied  O'Connell ;  1  we  must  earn 
our  breakfast.'  He  then  engaged  in  busy  speculations  on  the  course 
of  the  hare— she  had  doubled,  and  thrown  out  the  dogs — the  pack 
were  at  fault ;  they  had  scattered,  and  were  trying  in  different 
directions  to  recover  the  scent.  Ah  !  Drummer  hit  the  scent  again, 
and  now  they  were  all  once  more  in  full  pursuit. 

"  It  was  a  glorious  scene.  Overhead  was  a  cloudless  sky ; 
around  us,  on  every  side,  was  the  most  magnificent  scenery,  lighted 
up  with  brilliant  sunshine.  There  was  that  finest  of  all  music,  the 
loud,  full  cry  of  the  beagles,  returned  by  a  thousand  echoes  ;  the 
shouts  of  men  and  boys  ringing  sharp  and  cheerily  along  the  hills  ; 
and  there  was  Daniel  O'Connell  himself,  equalling  in  agility  men  not 
half  his  age.  pouring  forth  an  exhaustless  stream  of  jest  and  anec- 
dote, and  entering  with  joyous  zeal  into  the  fullest  spirit  of  the 
noble  sport, 

"  Two  hares  were  killed  within  an  hour  and  a  half  ;  and  we  then 
sat  down  to  breakfast  in  a  small  sheltered  nook.  It  was  a  green 
hollow  in  the  hill-side,  about  900  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 
Immediately  over  us  projected  a  grey  rock,  which  formed  a  sort  of 
rude  ceiling  to  the  inner  part  of  our  mountain  parlour.  Breakfast 
in  such  a  spot,  and  with  such  appetites,  was  truly  a  luxurious  feast. 
A  fragment  of  rock  was  our  table  ;  some  of  the  party  sat  on  stones, 
whilst  others  reclined  in  primitive  fashion  on  the  grass.  The  hunts- 
man, in  their  gay  red  jackets,  and  several  of  the  peasantry,  formed 
an  irregular  line  upon  the  outskirts.    The  noble  dogs  sat  around 

2c 


402 


LIFE  AT  DARRYNANE. 


with  an  air  of  quiet  dignity,  that  seemed  indicative  of  conscious 
merit.  Far  beneath  us  was  the  Atlantic,  sparkling  in  the  morning 
sun  ;  to  the  right  were  the  mountain  isles  of  Scarriff  and  the  bold 

rocks  of  Skellig. 

"  The  post-boy  arrived  with,  the  letter-bag  while  we  were  at  break- 
fast. Mr  O'Connell  read  his  letters  on  the  mountain  ;  the  hunt  was 
then  resumed,  and  with  such  success,  that,  if  I  mistake  not,  we 
brought  home  seven  hares  at  sunset. 

"  On  days  when  he  did  not  hunt,  the  mode  in  which  he  usually 
disposed  of  his  time  at  Darrynane  was  as  follows  : — After  breakfast 
the  newspapers  and  letters  occupied,  in  general,  from  one  to  two 
hours ;  he  would  then,  if  the  day  was  fine,  stroll  out  for  a  while  to 
the  beach,  the  garden,  or  to  his  turret  in  the  shrubbery.  Whenever 
I  accompanied  him  on  any  of  these  walks,  he  invariably  pointed 
out  among  the  surrounding  rocks  the  course  of  some  hunt,  and  de- 
tailed, with  a  minuteness  that  evinced  the  interest  he  took  in  the 
subject,  the  various  turns  of  the  hare,  and  the  exploits  of  the  dogs. 
He  would  then  return  to  the  house,  and  spend  the  rest  of  the  dax 
till  dinner  in  his  study.  One  day  I  found  him  reading  the  'Col- 
legians,' which  he  told  me  was  his  favourite  work  of  fiction.  '  I 
have  been  reading  it  over  again,'  said  he,  '  with  a  melancholy  interest. 
Scanlan  was  the  real  name  of  the  man  who  is  called  Hardress 
Cregan  in  the  novel.  I  was  Scanlan's  counsel  at  the  trial,  and  I 
knocked  up  the  principal  witness  against  him.  But  all  would  not 
do  ;  there  were  proofs  enough  besides,  that  were  quite  sufficient  to 
convict  him/ 

"  He  always  occupied  the  head  of  his  table  at  dinner,  and,  with 
rare  exceptions,  was  talkative  and  jocular  during  that  meal.  He 
generally  sat  about  an  hour  after  it,  and  then  returned  to  the  study, 
where  he  remained  until  bed-time." 

A  letter  which  O'Connell  wrote  from  Darrynane  to 
Walter  Savage  Landor,  in  October  1838,  shows  how  he 
loved  his  mountain  home.    He  says — 


BOYHOOD  DREAMS. 


403 


"I  could  show  you  at  nocntide,  when  the  stern  south-wester  had 
blown  long  and  rudely,  the  mountain  waves  coming  in  from  the 
illimitable  ocean,  in  majestic  succession,  expending  their  gigantic 
force,  and  throwing  up  stupendous  masses  of  foam,  against  the 
more  gigantic  and  more  stupendous  mountain  cliffs  that  fence  not 
only  this  my  native  spot,  but  form  that  eternal  barrier  which  pre- 
vents the  wild  Atlantic  from  submerging  the  cultivated  plains  and 
high-steepled  villages  of  proud  Britain  herself.  Or,  were  you  with 
rue  amidst  the  Alpine  scenery  that  surrounds  my  humble  abode, 
listening  to  the  eternal  roar  of  the  mountain  torrent,  as  it  bounds 
through  the  rocky  defiles  of  my  native  glens,  I  would  venture  to 
tell  you  how  I  was  born  within  the  sound  of  the  everlasting  wave, 
and  how  my  dreamy  boyhood  dwelt  upon  imaginary  intercourse  with 
those  who  are  dead  of  yore,  and  fed  its  fond  fancies  upon  the 
ancient  and  long  faded  glories  of  that  land  which  preserved  litera- 
ture and  Christianity,  when  the  rest  of  the  now  civilised  Europe 
was  shrouded  in  the  darkness  of  godless  ignorance.  Yes ;  my 
expanding  spirit  delighted  in  these  dreams,  till  catching  from  them 
an  enthusiasm  which  no  disappointment  can  embitter,  nor  accumu- 
lating years  (diminish,  I  formed  the  high  resolve  to  leave  my  native 
land  better  after  my  death  than  I  found  her  at  my  birth,  and,  if 
possible,  to  make  her  what  she  ought  to  be — 

1  Great,  glorious,  and  free, 
First  flower  of  the  earth,  and  first  gem  of  the  sea,' 

"  Peihaps,  if  I  could  show  you  the  calm  and  exquisite  beauty  of 
these  capacious  bays  and  mountain  promontories,  softened  in  the 
pale  moonlight  which  shines  this  lovely  evening,  till  all,  which 
during  the  day  was  grand  and  terrific,  has  become  calm  and  serene 
in  the  silent  tranquillity  of  the  clear  night,  perhaps  you  would 
readily  admit  that  the  man  who  has  been  so  often  called  a  ferocious 
demagogue,  is,  in  truth,  a  gentle  lover  of  Nature,  an  enthusiast  of 
all  her  beauties — 

4  Fond  of  each  gentle  and  each  dreary  scene,' 


404  POWER  OF  APPREHENSION. 


and  catching,  from  the  loveliness  as  well  as  the  dreariness  of  the 
ocean,  and  Alpine  scenes  with  which  it  is  surrounded,  a  greater 
ardour  to  promote  the  good  of  man,  in  his  overwhelming  admiration 
of  the  mighty  works  of  God." 

O'ConnelFs  power  of  apprehension  was  remarkable. 

While  apparently  absorbed  in  letters  or  papers  of  the 

greatest  importance,  he  would  often  hear  and  answer  some 

observation,  which  might  be  made  in  the  lowest  tone,  and 

at  the  far  end  of  a  large  room.    He  once  gave  considerable 

annoyance  to  a  legal  friend,  who  was  consulting  him  about 

an  act  cf  parliament. 

"The  lawyer  was  reading  aloud  the  disputable  parts  of  the  act, 
when  he  suddenly  stopped  short,  exclaiming,  '  0,  Mr  O'Connell,  I 
ses  you  are  reading  something  else ;  I  '11  wait  till  you  have  done.' 
'Go  on  !  go  on,  man!'  said  O'Connell,  without  raising  his  eyes  from 
the  document  with  which  he  was  engaged,  *  I  hear  you  quite  dis- 
tinctly. If  you  had  as  much  to  do  as  I  have,  you  would  long  ago 
have  been  trained  into  the  knack  of  devoting  the  one  moment  to  two 
occupations.'  The  other  obeyed,  and  when  he  had  concluded  hia 
queries,  O'Connell  put  aside  the  second  subject  of  his  thoughts,  and 
delivered  a  detailed  reply  to  all  the  questions  of  his  visitor." 

O'Connell's  clients  were  not  always  of  his  own  way  of 

thinking,  either  in  religion  or  politics. 

"Mr  Hedges  Eyre,  a  gentleman  of  Orange  notoriety,  had  in- 
variably  engaged  O'Connell  as  his  counsel.  On  one  occasion  a 
brother  Orangeman  severely  censured  Hedges  Eyre  for  employing 
the  Catholic  leader.  '  You 've  got  seven  counsel  without  him,'  quoth 
tl lis  sage  adviser,  '  and  why  should  you  give  your  money  to  that 
Papist  rascal  V 

"  Hedges  did  not  make  any  immediate  reply ;  but  they  both 
remained  in  court,  watching  the  progress  of  the  trial.    The  counsel 


THE  DOCTOR'S  PATIENTS. 


405 


on  the  opposite  side  pressed  a  point  for  non  suit,  and  carried  the 
judge  (Johnson)  along  with  them.  O'Connell  remonstrated  against 
the  non-suit,  protesting  against  so  great  an  injustice.  The  judge 
seemed  obdurate.  'Well,  hear  me,  at  all  events!'  said  O'Connell. 
*  No,  I  won't ! 1  replied  the  judge  ;  1  I 've  already  heard  the  leading 
counsel.'  4  But  /  am  conducting  counsel,  my  lord,'  rejoined  O'Con- 
nell, 1  and  more  intimately  aware  of  the  details  of  the  case  than 
my  brethren.  I  entreat,  therefore,  you  will  hear  me.'  The  judge 
ungraciously  consented  ;  and  in  five  minutes  O'Connell  had  argued 
him  out  of  the  non-suit.  'Now,'  said  Hedges  Eyre,  in  triumph,  to 
his  Orange  con  frere,  1  now  do  you  see  why  I  give  my  money  to  that 
Papist  rascal  1 '  " 

In  1809  O'Connell  was  indebted  to  Edmund  Lees,  then 
Secretary  to  the  General  Post-Office,  for  the  establishment 
of  a  post-office  at  Cahirciveen.  He  gained  a  lawsuit  for  Mr 
Lees,  who  evinced  his  gratitude  in  this  practical  manner. 

"  One  of  O'Conneil's  stories  was  about  a  physician  who  was 
detained  for  many  days  at  the  Limerick  assizes,  to  which  he  had 
been  subpoenaed  as  a  witness.  He  pressed  the  judge  to  order  him 
his  expenses.  'On  what  plea  do  you  claim  your  expenses V  de- 
manded the  judge.  1  On  the  plea  of  my  heavy  personal  loss  and 
inconvenience,  my  lord,'  replied  the  simple  applicant ;  '  I  have  been 
kept  away  from  my  patients  these  five  days,  and  if  I  am  kept  here 
much  longer,  how  do  I  know  but  they  'II  gtt  wellT  " 

From  the  year  1813  to  the  year  1815  O'Connell  was 
occupied,  or  rather  overwhelmed,  with  occupation,  by  his 
efforts  to  keep  the  Catholic  party  together,  and  his  own 
constantly  increasing  business. 

The  celebrated  trial  of  John  Magee  took  place  in  1813. 
He  was  the  proprietor  of  the  Dublin  Evening  Post ;  and  a 


406 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


review  of  the  careers  of  the  various  Irish  viceroys  who  had 
preceded  the  Duke  of  Eichmond,  was  inserted  in  this 
paper  when  the  duke  retired.  The  article  was  written  by 
Mr  Scully,  the  author  of  a  well-known  and  most  important 
work  upon  the  penal  laws.  In  early  life  he  did  not  appear 
as  a  patriot;  but  a  careful  consideration  of  the  state  of 
the  country  could  not  fail  to  arouse  any  honest  man  to 
do  his  best  to  advocate  her  cause.  His  bookseller  was 
imprisoned  for  publishing  his  book,  and  his  editor  was 
imprisoned  for  publishing  his  article.  Altogether  Mr 
Scully  was  not  pleasant  as  a  literary  friend.  The  trial  of 
the  publisher  arose  thus: — In  the  year  1809,  a  Catholic 
farmer  named  Barry,  a  native  of  the  county  Wexford, 
was  sentenced  to  death,  and  hanged,  although  there  was 
complete  evidence  after  his  unjust  conviction  to  prove  his 
innocence.  Mr  Scully  mentioned  this  fact,  for  it  was  a 
fact,  in  his  Statement  of  the  Penal  Laws  ;  and  as  Mr  Hugh 
Fitzpatrick  was  the  publisher,  he  was  prosecuted. 

The  Attorney- General  Saurin  said  there  was  internal 
evidence  that  the  Statement  of  the  Penal  Laws  was  com- 
piled by  a  lawyer,  and  that,  though  he  was  safe  fr^TB 
punishment  because  he  was  anonymous,  he  ought  not  to 
be  so  from  remorse  for  his  conduct.  Mr  Scully  at  once 
rose  in  court,  and  said  he  would  give  the  author's  name,  if 
he  would  be  guaranteed  an  impartial  trial  of  the  facts. 
Tiie  Attorney-General  knew  the  facts  as  well  as  any  one, 
and  how  terribly  damaging  they  were  to  the  Government. 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


407 


He  said  he  "  stood  there  to  prosecute  a  libeller,  and  not 
to  defend  the  Government;"  a  very  sensible  reply.  So 
the  affair  ended  —  not,  however,  without  another  appeal 
from  Scully,  to  whom  Saurin  observed  a  discreet  silence. 

The  case  went  on.  O'Counell  examined  Mr  Burrows 
Campbell,  who  had  been  counsel  for  the  murdered  man. 
It  was  proved  thereby  that  counsel  had  applied  to  postpone 
the  trial ;  that  witnesses  could  not  be  procured,  the  notice 
was  so  short ;  that  Norbury,  of  sanguinary  memory,  re- 
fused the  application  ;  that  counsel  thereupon  threw  up 
his  brief ;  that  counsel,  after  the  conviction  of  the  murdered 
man,  wrote  to  Lord  Norbury  concerning  the  voluntary 
affidavits  of  those  persons  who  were  to  have  been  Barry's 
witnesses,  in  which  they  swore  that  he  was  in  their  com- 
pany at  a  distance  of  forty-five  miles  from  the  place  where 
the  murder  was  committed  ;  that  counsel  only  received 
a  verbal  reply ;  that  he  applied  then  to  the  Attorney- 
General  ;  that  the  Attorney- General  took  no  notice  what- 
ever of  the  matter;  that  he  did  not  believe  it  was  be- 
cause the  man  was  a  Catholic,  that  he  was  hanged  being 
Innocent  ;  that  Catholics  were  not  so  badly  treated 
as  that — to  which  Mr  O'Connell  replied,  "  No,  they  are 
not  all  hanged ;  "  that  he  spoke  of  the  circumstances  to 
every  one;  and  that  he  considered  them  "  very  shocking." 

O'Connell  made  an  admirable  defence.  He  showed 
that  Mr  Pole  and  Sir  Charles  Saxton  were  the  persons 
in  office  when  the  book  was  published,  and  that  two  other 


408 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


persons  held  their  situation  when  the  information  was 
filed.  The  verdict  was,  of  coarse,  against  Mr  Fitz- 
patrick.  O'Connell  then  made  an  application  to  have 
the  verdict  set  aside  on  the  ground  of  "  misdirection  " 
on  the  part  of  the  judge  who  had  charged  the  jury.  In 
his  long  and  eloquent  address  we  find  the  following 
sentence — 

"  It  was  matter  of  Irish  history,  that  when  these  State  prosecu- 
tions were  carrying  on  against  a  Catholic  of  this  country,  not  one 
man  of  his  own  religion  was  suffered  to  remain  upon  the  panel." 

The  trial  of  Magee  created  an  immense  sensation — none 
the  less  that  the  Attorney- General  was  legally  dissected 
by  O'Connell,  in  a  fashion  which  it  has  not  often  fallen  to 
the  lot  of  an  Attorney- General  to  bear.  O'Connell,  cer- 
tainly, only  stated  facts,  but  he  had  a  very  clear  way  of 
putting  facts.  He  opened  his  address  by  expressing  "  his 
inability  to  discover  what  he  had  to  reply  to."  He  then 
proceeded  to  reason  in  anticipation  of  a  conviction,  and 
showed  the  hopeless  manner  in  which  that  gentleman  had 
involved  himself  in  stating  the  subjects  of  the  indictment, 
He  had  declared  that  Mr  Magee  was  indicted  as  the  pro- 
prietor of  a  newspaper,  or  the  printer  of  a  newspaper,  and 
as  having  charged  the  Duke  of  Bichmond  with  being  a 
murderer,  yet  none  of  these  counts  were  found  in  the  in- 
dictment. O'Connell  then  took  up  the  precedent  on  which 
Mr  Saurin  acted,  and  showed,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
audience,  if  not  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  counsel,  that  the 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


409 


case  proved  precisely  the  reverse  of  that  for  which  it  was 
quoted. 

The  twice-postponed  trial  was  commenced  on  the  26th 
of  June  1  SI 3.  The  Attorney-General  opened  the  case,  and 
ritn esses  were  called  to  prove  publication.  There  was  a 
full  bar  on  either  side,  the  Attorney-General  and  the 
Solicitor -General  being  for  the  prosecution,  with  Sergeants 
Moore,  Ball,  and  M'Mahon.  The  counsels  for  the  defendant 
were  O'Connell,  Wallace,  Hamilton,  Finlay,  and  Philips. 
The  matter  was  one  of  very  grave  importance,  both  for 
the  Crown  and  for  the  people.  It  involved  the  question 
of  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  each  side  came  to  the 
forensic  battle  with  the  full  knowledge  of  what  was 
involved. 

The  Attorney-General  imperilled  his  reputation,  if  he 
did  not  injure  his  cause,  by  using  bad  language,  by  de- 
scending to  personal  abuse  of  the  man  he  was  prosecuting. 
He  called  him  a  "  malefactor,"  a  "  ruffian,"  and  other 
names,  with  which  we  do  not  choose  to  defile  these  pages. 

0' Council's  defence  of  Magee  was  his  master  effort 
Bt  the  bar.  The  concentrated  yet  galling  scorn  with 
irhich  he  treated  both  the  manner  and  the  matter  of 
his  opponent  was  something  which  could  never  have  been 
forgotten  by  those  who  listened  to  it.  The  apparent 
compassion  which  he  manifested  when  he  knew  that 
he  had  driven  him  to  desperation  was  inimitably  con- 
veyed.    He  "  pitied"  him,  he  "  forgave "  him,  he  de- 


410 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


clared  him  an  object  of  compassion;  he  selected  careful]  j 
each  vulgar  epithet,  and  repeated  them  for  the  considera- 
tion of  the  jury,  while  he  took  care  to  expose  the  low  origin 
of  the  unfortunate  lawyer,  by  expressing  his  wonder  how  he 
could  have  recollected  the  forms  of  speech  which  must  have 
been  familiar  to  him  in  early  life,  "  after  having  mixed 
for  thirty  years  in  polished  society."  And  then,  having 
briefly  alluded  to  his  "  well-pensioned  but  ill-read  news- 
paper," and  its  imitation  of  Saurin's  bad  language,  and 
denouncing  "the  style  and  manner  of  the  Attorney- 
General's  discussion,"  he  proceeded  to  the  matter. 

O'Connell  was  well  aware  that  his  speech  would  be  read 
in  England  by  most  of  the  leading  politicians  of  the  day, 
and  he  took  the  opportunity  of  giving  them  a  condensed 
history  of  Ireland,  seasoned  by  a  pungent  commentary  on 
British  misrule.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Chief  Justice 
meekly  said,  "  What,  Mr  O'Connell,  can  this  have  to  do 
with  the  question  the  jury  have  to  try?"  Mr  O'Connell 
certainly  did  not  snub  him  because  he  was  meek,  but  he 
took  excellent  care  to  continue  his  defence  precisely  as  he 
had  begun  it.  He  declared  that  he  was  "  compelled  r'  by 
the  Attorney- General  to  be  political,  though  he  had  hitherto 
made  it  a  "  rigid  rule  of  his  professional  conduct"  not  to 
mingle  politics  with  his  forensic  duties. 

This  was  true,  but  we  suspect,  if  an  equally  good  oppor- 
tunity had  offered,  that  the  "  rigid  rule  "  would  have  been 
relaxed.    It  was  true,  also,  that  the  unfortunate  Attorney- 


TRIAL   OF  MAQEE. 


411 


General  bad  given  him  an  opportunity,  which  that  indi- 
vidual must  have  deeply  regretted  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

The  Attorney-General  said  that  Catholics  were  sedi- 
tious, treasonable,  and  revolutionary ;  it  was  an  old  story 
that,  but  the  same  charge,  though  still  older  in  the  present 
day,  answers  political  purposes  too  well  to  be  abandoned 
easily.  O'Connell  said  that  the  Catholics  only  asked  to 
participate  in  the  advantages  of  the  constitution. 

"  Strange  inconsistent  voice  of  calumny,"  he  exclaimed.  "  You 
■barge  us  with  intern perance  in  our  exertions  for  a  participation  in 
the  constitution,  and  you  charge  us,  at  the  same  time,  almost  in  the 
same  sentence,  with  a  design  to  overturn  that  constitution.  The 
dupes  of  your  hypocrisy  may  believe  you  ;  but,  base  calumniators, 
you  do  not,  you  cannot  believe  yourselves  1M 

The  Attorney- General  had  boasted  of  his  triumph  over 
the  Pope  and  Popery.  "  I  have  put  down,"  he  said,  "  the 
Catholic  Committee  ;  I  will  put  down  at  my  good  time  the 
Catholic  Board."  He  was  unwise  as  well  as  ungentle- 
manly  to  taunt  O'Connell  thus  :  it  was  the  low  boast  of 
that  Ascendency  which  had  kept  Ireland  disunited  for 
centuries.     O'Connell  replied — 

"This  boast  is  partly  historical,  partly  prophetical.  He  was 
wrong  in  his  history — he  is  quite  mistaken  in  his  prophecy.  He  did 
not  put  down  the  Catholic  Committee  ;  we  gave  up  that  name  the 
moment  that  it  was  confessedly  avowed,  that  this  sapient  Attorney- 
General's  polemico-legal  controversy  dwindled  into  a  mere  dispute 
about  words.  He  told  us  that  in  the  English  language  1  pretence 
means  1  purpose.'  Had  it  been  French,  and  not  English,  we  might 
have  been  inclined  to  respect  his  judgment,  but  in  point  of  English 


412 


TRIAL   OF  MAG  EE. 


we  venture  to  differ  with  him;  we  told  him  *  purpose/  good  Mf 
Attorney-General,  is  just  the  reverse  of  '  pretence.'  The  quarrel 
grew  warm  and  animated  ;  we  appealed  to  common  sense,  to  the 
grammar,  and  to  the  dictionary ;  common  sense,  grammar,  and  the 
dictionary  decided  in  our  favour.  He  brought  his  appeal  to  this 
Court.  Your  lordship  and  your  brethren  unanimously  decided  that, 
in  point  of  law — mark,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  the  sublime  wisdom 
of  law — the  court  decided  that,  in  point  of  law,  'pretence'  does 
mean  '  jmrpose  !' 

"  Fully  contented  with  this  very  reasonable  and  more  satisfactory 
decision,  there  still  remained  a  matter  of  fact  between  us  :  the  At- 
torney-General charged  us  with  being  representatives;  we  denied  all 
representation.  He  had  two  witnesses  to  prove  the  fact  for  him — 
they  swore  to  it  one  way  at  one  trial,  and  directly  the  other  wTay  at 
the  next.  An  honourable,  intelligent,  and  enlightened  jury  disbe- 
lieved those  witnesses  at  the  first  trial ;  matters  were  better  man- 
aged at  the  second  trial — the  jury  were  better  arranged  ;  I  speak 
delicately,  gentlemen ;  the  jury  were  better  arranged,  as  the 
witnesses  were  better  informed  ;  and,  accordingly,  there  was  one 
verdict  for  us  on  the  representative  question,  and  one  verdict 
against  us. 

"  He  concluded  this  part  of  his  subject  by  exclaiming — '  Oh  !  the 
Attorney-General !  the  best  and  wisest  of  men  ! '  O'Conn ell's  de- 
fence of  the  Press  was  masterly  ;  and  he  showed  how,  when  it  first 
came  into  existence,  it  was  stifled  ar_l  trammelled  by  the  Star 
Chamber.  When  do  the  people  want  protection? — when  the  Govern- 
ment is  engaged  in  delinquencies,  oppression,  and  crimes.  It  is- 
against  these  that  the  people  want  the  protection  of  the  Press. 
Now,  I  put  it  to  your  plain  sense,  whether  the  Press  can  afford  such 
protection,  if  it  be  punished  for  treating  of  these  crimes? 

"  Still  more,  can  a  shadow  of  protection  be  given  by  a  Press  that 
is  not  permitted  to  mention  the  errors,  the  talents,  and  the  striking 
features  of  an  administration?  Here  is  a  watchman  admitted  by 
the  Attorney-General  to  be  at  his  post  to  warn  the  people  of  their 


TRIAL   OF  MAG  EE. 


413 


danger,  and  tbe  first  thing  that  is  done  to  this  "watchman  is  to  knock 
him  down  and  bring  him  to  a  dungeon,  for  announcing  the  danger 
he  is  bound  to  disclose.  I  agree  with  the  Attorney-General,  the 
Press  is  a  protection,  but  it  is  not  in  its  silence  or  in  its  voice  of 
flattery.  It  can  protect  only  by  speaking  out  when  there  is  danger, 
or  error,  or  want  of  ability. 

"The  Attorney-General  told  us,  rather  ludicrously,  that  they, 
meaning  the  duke's  predecessors,  included,  of  course,  himself.  How 
a  man  could  be  included  amongst  his  predecessors,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  discover.  It  seems  to  be  that  mode  of  expression  which 
would  indicate,  that  the  Attorney-General,  notwithstanding  his 
foreign  descent,  has  imbibed  some  of  the  language  of  the  native  Irish. 
But  our  blunders  arise,  not  like  this,  from  a  confusion  of  idea  ;  they 
are  generally  caused  by  too  great  condensation  of  thought ;  they 
are,  indeed,  frequently  of  the  head,  but  never — never  of  the  heart. 
Would  I  could  say  so  much  for  the  Attorney-General ;  his  blunder 
is  not  to  be  attributed  to  his  cool  and  cautious  head ;  it  sprung,  I 
much  fear,  from  the  misguided  bitterness  of  the  bigotry  of  his 
heart ! 

"Well,  gentlemen,  this  sentence  does,  in  broad  and  distinct  terms, 
charge  the  predecessors  of  the  duke,  but  not  the  duke  himself,  with 
insult,  oppression,  murder,  and  deceit.  But  it  is  history,  gentlemen  : 
are  you  prepared  to  silence  the  voice  of  history  ?  Are  you  disposed 
to  suppress  the  recital  of  facts — the  story  of  the  events  of  former 
days?  Is  the  historian,  and  the  publisher  of  history,  to  be  exposed 
to  indictment  and  punishment  1 " 

A  resume  of  Irish  history  followed,  and  as  O'Connell  re- 
lated each  act  of  English  cruelty,  perfidy,  and  illegality,  he 
asked,  "  In  what  ladylike  language  shall  these  things  be 
recorded  ?  "  He  showed  that,  up  to  this  period,  trial  by 
jury  in  Ireland  had  been  "a  mockery  of  law  and  justice." 


414 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


It  was  then  insinuated  tliat  it  was  very  far  from  being  other-. 

wise  at  that  very  time. 

He  flung  scorn  on  those  who  countenanced  and  encour- 
aged legal  dishonesty,  while  they  distributed  Bibles,  and 
called  themselves  suppressors  of  vice. 

In  the  article  for  which  Magee  was  indicted,  the  expres- 
sion, "  the  profligate,  unprincipled  Westmoreland  "  was 
especially  noted.  On  this  O'Connell  related  some  of  the 
shameless  and  almost  nameless  crimes  of  this  wretched 
man,  and  observed  t — 

"  What  if  these  scenes  were  enacted  in  the  open  day — would  you 
call  that  profligacy,  sweet  distributors  of  Bibles?  The  women  of 
Ireland  have  always  been  beauteous  to  a  proverb ;  they  were,  with- 
out an  exception,  chaste  beyond  the  terseness  of  a  proverb  to  express  j 
they  are  still  as  chaste  as  in  former  days  ;  but  the  depraved  example 
of  a  depraved  court  has  furnished  some  exceptions,  and  the  action 
of  criminal  conversation,  before  the  time  of  Westmoreland  unknown, 
has  since  become  more  familiar  to  our  courts  of  justice. 

"  Call  you  the  sad  example  which  produced  those  exceptions — call 
you  that  profligacy,  suppressors  of  vice  and  Bible  distributors  ?  The 
vices  of  the  poor  are  within  the  reach  of  control;  to  suppress  them, 
you  can  call  in  aid  the  churchwarden  and  the  constable ;  the  justice 
of  the  peace  will  readily  aid  you,  for  he  is  a  gentleman  ;  the  Court 
of  Sessions  will  punish  those  vices  for  you  by  fine,  by  imprison* 
merit,  and,  if  you  are  urgent,  by  whipping.  But,  suppressors  of  vice, 
who  shall  aid  you  to  suppress  the  vices  of  the  great  ?  Are  you 
sincere,  or  are  you,  to  use  your  own  phraseology,  whitewashed  tombs, 
painted  charnel-houses?  Be  yo  hypocrites?  If  you  are  not—if 
you  be  sincere — (and,  oh !  how  I  wish  that  you  were)— if  you  be 
sincere,  I  will  steadily  require  to  know  of  you,  what  aid  you  expect 
to  suppress  the  vices  of  the  rich  and  great  ?  Who  will  assist  you  to 
suppress  those  vices?     The  churchwarden  !— why,  he,  I  believe, 


TRIAL   OF  MAG  EE. 


415 


banded  them  into  the  best  pew  in  one  of  your  cathedrals,  that  they 
might  lovingly  hear  divine  service  together.  The  constable  ! — 
absurd.  The  justice  of  the  peace  ! — no,  upon  his  honour.  As  to 
the  Court  of  Sessions,  you  cannot  expect  it  to  interfere ;  and,  my 
lords  the  judges  are  really  so  busy  at  the  assizes,  in  hurrying  the 
grand  juries  through  the  presentments,  that  there  is  no  leisure  to  look 
after  the  scandalous  faults  of  the  great.  Who,  then,  sincere  and 
candid  suppressors  of  vice,  can  aid  you? — The  Press;  the  Press 
alone  talks  of  the  profligacy  of  the  great  ;  and,  at  least,  shames  into 
decency  those  whom  it  may  fail  to  correct.  The  Press  is  your  assistant, 
but  your  only  one.  Go,  then,  men  of  conscience,  men  of  religion 
— go,  then,  and  convict  John  Magee,  because  lie  published  that 
Westmoreland  was  profligate  and  unprincipled  as  a  lord-lieutenant 
— do  convict,  and  then  return  to  your  distribution  of  Bibles  and  to 
your  attacks  upon  the  recreations  of  the  poor,  under  the  name  of 
vices  ! 

"  Do  convict  the  only  aid  which  virtue  has,  and  distribute  your 
Bibles,  that  you  may  have  the  name  of  being  religious  ;  upon 
your  sincerity  depends  my  client's  prospect  of  a  verdict.  Docs  he 
lean  upon  a  broken  reed  ?  * 

Camden  had  been  called  "  the  cold-hearted  and  cruel 
Camden."  O'Connell  pleaded  justification  of  the  libel, 
and  re-asserted  it. 

"  I  pass  on  from  the  sanctified  portion  of  the  jury  which  I  have 
latterly  addressed,  and  I  call  the  attention  of  you  all  to  the  next 
member  of  the  sentence — 

"  1  The  cold-hearted  and  cruel  Camden.' 

H  Here  I  have  your  prejudices  all  armed  against  me.  In  the 
administration  of  Camden,  your  faction  was  cherished  and  trium- 
phant. Will  you  prevent  him  from  being  called  cold  and  cruel  ? 
Alas  !  to-day,  why  have  I  not  men  to  address  who  would  listen  to 
me  for  the  sake  of  impartial  justice?  But  even  with  you  the  case 
is  too  powerful  to  allow  me  to  di  spair. 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


"  Well,  I  do  say,  the  cold  and  cruel  Camden.  Why,  on  one 
circuit,  (hiring  his  administration,  there  were  one  hundred  indi- 
viduals TRIED  BEFORE  ONE  JUDGE  \  OF  THESE  NINETY-EIGHT  WERE 
CAPITALLY  CONVICTED,  AND  NINETY-SEVEN  HANGED  !     I  understand 

one  escaped  ;  but  he  was  a  soldier  who  murdered  a  peasant,  or 
something  of  that  trivial  nature — NINETY-SEVEN  victims  in 
one  circuit  !  !  ! 

"  In  the  meantime  it  was  necessary,  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Union,  that  the  flame  of  rebellion  should  be  fed.  The  meetings  of 
the  rebel  colonels  in  the  north  were,  for  a  length  of  time,  regularly 
reported  to  Government ;  but  the  rebellion  was  not  then  ripe  enough; 
and  whilst  the  fruit  was  coming  to  maturity,  under  the  fostering 
hand  of  the  administration,  the  wretched  dupes  atoned  on  the 
gallows  for  allowing  themselves  to  be  deceived." 

He  spoke  then  in  glowing  language  of  the  soldierly 
Abercromby  and  the  heroic  Moore,  men  whom  England 
delighted  to  honour,  whose  names  will  ever  be  enshrined 
in  history  as  amongst  the  bravest  and  best  of  her  soldiers ; 
and  he  showed  how  they  had  characterised  the  administra- 
tration  of  Camden,  and  the  fashion  in  which  Ireland  was 
governed  during  the. Rebellion. 

But  perhaps  what  told  most  on  the  Attorney- General's 
case,  after  the  allusions  to  his  own  origin,  was  the  allu- 
sion to  his  own  politics.  In  Ireland  at  least,  men 
should  be  cautious  in  early  life ;  for  when  some  un- 
happy judge  or  Queen's  Counsel  comes  forward  to  de- 
nounce in  scathing  and  vengeful  language  the  delinquen- 
cies of  his  victims,  it  will  perhaps  be  found  that  they 
have  only  followed  in  his  footsteps  at  a  humble  distance; 
and  for  one  unwise  expression  on  their  part,  half  a  dozen 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


417 


criminal  suggestions  may  be  on  record  against  the  judge 
or  the  counsel. 

"  In  humble  and  obscure  distance  I  followed  the  footsteps  of  my 
present  adversaries.  What  their  sentiments  were  then  of  the  authors 
of  the  Union,  I  beg  to  read  to  you  ;  I  will  read  them  from  a  news- 
paper set  up  for  the  mere  purpose  of  opposing  the  Union,  and  con- 
ducted under  the  control  of  these  gentlemen.  If  their  editor  tjouhl 
be  gravely  denied,  I  shall  only  reply — 1  Oh  !  cease  your  funning.'1 

M  The  charge  of  being  a  Jacobin  was  at  that  time  made  against 
the  present  Attorney- General — him,  plain  William  Saurin — in  the 
very  terms,  and  with  just  as  much  truth  as  he  now  applies  it  to  my 
clients.  His  reply  shall  serve  for  that  of  Mr  Magee.  I  take  it  from 
the  Anti-  Union  of  22d  March  1800. 

u  '  To  the  charge  of  Jacobin,  Mr  Saurin  said  he  knew  not  what  it 
meant,  as  applied  to  him,  except  it  was  an  opposition  to  the  will  of 
the  British  minister.' 

"  So  says  Mr  Magee  ;  but,  gentlemen,  my  eye  lights  upon  another 
|fastage  of  Mr  Saurin's,  in  the  same  speech  from  which  I  havp 
quoted  the  above.    It  was  in  these  words  :  — 

"  '  Mr  Saurin  admitted  that  debates  might  sometimes  produce 
agitations,  but  that  was  the  price  necessarily  paid/or  liberty? 

"  Oh,  how  I  thank  this  good  Jew  for  the  word.  Yes,  agitation  is, 
as  Mr  Saurin  well  remarked,  the  price  necessarily  paid  for  liberty. 
We  have  paid  the  price,  gentlemen,  and  the  honest  man  refuses  to 
give  u.s  the  goods. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  of  this  Mr  Saurin,  then  an  agitator,  I  beg 
leav.-  to  read  the  opinion  upon  this  Union,  the  author  of  which  we 
have  only  called  artful  and  treacherous.  From  his  speech  of  the 
13*:h  March  1S00,  I  select  those  passages  : — 

'*  1  Mr  Saurin  :~aid  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  the  crown,  to  the  countiy, 
and  to  his  family,  to  warn  the  minister  of  the  dreadful  consequents 


1  A  pamphlet  under  this  title  was  published  by  the  Solicitor-General  J 
it  was  full  of  wit  and  talent 

2  D 


418 


TRIAL  OF  MAG  EE. 


of  persevering  in  a  measure  which  the  people  of  Ireland  almajl 

v  n  animously  disliked.1 
<;  And  affain  : — ■ 

o 

"  1  He,  for  one,  would  assert  the  principles  of  the  glorious  revolu- 
tion, and  boldly  declare,  in  the  face  of  the  nation,  that  when  the 
sovereign  power  dissolved  the  compact  that  existed  between  the 
Government  and  the  people,  that  moment  the  right  of  resistance 

accrues. 

"  '  Whether  it  would  be  prudent  in  the  people  to  avail  themselves 
of  that  right,  would  be  another  question.  But  if  a  legislative  union 
were  forced  on  the  country,  against  the  will  of  its  inhabitants,  it 
would  be  a  nullity,  and  resistance  to  it  would  be  a  struggle  against 
usurpation,  and  not  a  resistance  against  law.' 

"  May  I  be  permitted  just  to  observe,  how  much  more  violent 
this  agitator  of  the  year  1800,  than  we  poor  and  timid  agitators  of 
the  year  1813.  When  did  we  talk  of  resistance  being  a  question  of 
prudence  %  Shame  upon  the  men  who  call  us  intemperate,  and  yet 
remember  their  own  violence. 

But,  gentlemen,  is  the  Attorney-General  at  liberty  to  change  the 
nature  of  things  with  his  own  official  and  professional  prospects] 
I  am  ready  to  admit  that  he  receives  thousands  of  pounds  by  the 
year  of  the  public  moneys,  in  his  office  of  Attorney -General — thou- 
sands from  the  Crown-Solicitor — thousands,  for  doing  little  work, 
from  the  Custom  house  ;  but  does  all  this  public  booty  with  which 
he  is  loaded  alter  the  nature  of  things,  or  prevent  that  from  being 
a  deceitful  measure,  brought  about  by  artful  and  treacherous  means, 
against  which  Mr  Saurin,  in  1800,  preached  the  holy  doctrine  >f 
insurrection,  sounded  the  tocsin  of  resistance,  and  summoned  the 
people  of  the  land  to  battle  against  it,  as  against  usuiyation  f 

"  In  1800,  he  absolves  the  subjects  from  their  allegiance,  if  the 
usurpation,  styled  the  Union,  will  be  carried  ;  and  he,  this  identical 
agitator,  in  1813  indicts  a  man,  and  calls  him  a  ruffian,  for  speak- 
ing of  the  contrivers  of  the  Union,  not  as  usurpers,  but  an  artful, 
treacherous  men.     Gentlemen,  pity  the  situation  in  which  he  has 


THE  JURY  BROUGHT  TO  THE  BAR.  413 


placed  himself,  and  pray,  do  not  think  of  inflicting  punishment 
upon  my  client  for  his  extreme  moderation." 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  wonderful  speech,  O'Connell 
proved  Lliat  the  Attorney- General  had  been  asked  to  pro- 
sccule  a  paper  which  had  contained  gross  libels  upon 
Catholics,  and  that  be  had  refused.  O'Connell  concluded 
thus : — 

"  There  are  amongst  you  men  of  great  religious  zeal,  of  much 
public  piety.  Are  you  sincere?  Do  you  believe  what  you  profess] 
With  all  this  zea!,  with  all  this  piety,  is  there  any  conscience 
amongst  you?  Is  there  any  terror  of  violating  your  oaths?  Be  ye 
hypocrites,  or  does  genuine  religion  inspire  ye  ?  If  you  he  sincere, 
if  you  have  conscience,  if  your  oaths  can  control  your  interests, 
then  Mr  Magee  confidently  expects  an  acquittal. 

"  If  amongst  you  there  be  cherished  one  ray  of  pure  religion,  if 
amongst  you  there  glow  a  single  spark  of  liberty,  if  I  have  alarmed 
religion,  or  roused  the  spirit  of  freedom  in  one  breast  amongst  you, 
Mr  Magee  is  safe,  and  his  country  is  served;  but  if  there  be  none — 
if  you  be  slaves  and  hypocrites,  he  will  await  your  verdict,  and 
despise  it." 

The  verdict  of  course  was  for  tbe  Crown* 


(Ljwpfer  ftinl$. 


COURAGE  AND  PATRIOTISM. 
1 8 13-18 1 9. 

m  ENGLISH  CATHOLICS — THE  DUKE  OF  NORFOLK  AND  DR  M I LNER— CASTLE 
BROWNE  AND  THE  JESUITS — PKKL  AND  DR  KENNY — PUBLIC  HONOURS — 
DUELLING  AND  DUELLISTS — THE  IRISH  CATHOLIC  ARISTOCRACY — D'eSTERRE, 
HIS  CHALLENGE  AND  FATAL  DUEL — AGRARIAN  OUTRAGES — REV.  JOHN  HAMIL- 
TON, £13  PLOTS  AND  TOOLS  —  AFFAIR  OF  HONOUR  WITH  PEEL — FEEL'S 
SIFT  TO  IH£LAJfU» 


BJjOWEVEB  much  O'Connell's  memory. 
?]j    is  revered  in  Ireland,  it  ought  to  be 
revered  throughout  the  whole  Catho- 
lic, or  we  should  rather  say.  Christian 
world,  since  by  far  the  greater 
number  of  Christians  are  Catho- 
lics.   It  certainly  requires  a  very 
careful  study  of  his  life  to  know 
the  obstacles  with  which  he  had  to  contend, 
and  which  he  overcame.    It  is  not,  we  think, 
saying  too  much  to  assert  that  O'Connell 
was  mainly  instrumental  in  saving  the  Ca- 
tholic Church  from  the  terrible  consequences  which 
would  have  followed  the  acceptance  of  the  Veto. 


424 


ENGLISH  CATHOLICS. 


It  required  an  intelligence  and  a  mind  like  his  to  grasp  the 
hearings  of  the  whole  case,  and  to  sacrifice  the  present  ap- 
parent good  in  order  to  avert  the  future  corresponding  evil. 

We  have  already  said  something  of  the  political  opinions  of 
English  Catholics.  They  made  then,  we  much  fear  that  some 
few  make  still,  the  fatal  mistake  of  dissociating  themselves 
from  their  Irish  brethren.  We  have  seen  how  some  of  them 
were  even  willing  to  forego  the  name  of  Catholic,  and 
their  self-respect  along  with  it,  for  the  miserable  imaginary 
advantage  of  a  higher  social  respectability.  It  is  a  matter 
of  history,  that  the  great  majority — that,  in  fact,  an  over- 
whelming majority — of  English  Catholics  apostatised  from 
their  religion  to  preserve  their  worldly  goods.  A  noble  few 
remained  faithful,  but  the  leaven  of  worldliness  was  at  work 
even  amongst  these  few,  and  they  readily  listened  to  any  spe- 
cious plea  which  would  tend  to  lessen  that  isolation  from 
their  Protestant  fellow-countrymen  which  they  felt  to  be, 
and  which  was,  a  social  bar  sinister.  They  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  that  the  religion  to  which  they  belonged  did  not 
promise  them  either  temporal  prosperity  or  worldly  honour, 
and  that  it  might  demand  the  sacrifice  of  both. 

There  were,  even  then,  men  in  England  who  had  renounced 
their  religion,  because  they  had  clear  views  of  what  it  de- 
manded. They  were  men  who  had  quietly  counted  the  cost 
They  knew  very  well  what  their  religion  required,  but  they 
had  made  up  their  minds  not  to  submit  to  its  requirements. 
They  were,  if  I  may  say  so,  honest  apostates.    There  was 


A   DOUBTFUL  TRIUMPH. 


425 


yet  another  class  who  also  knew  what  their  religion  required, 
but  who  were  always  trying  to  make  the  requirements  of 
their  religion  square  in  with  the  requirements  of  the  world. 
They  might  as  well  have  tried  to  square  the  circle.  They 
failed  miserably.  They  lost  their  own  self-respect,  and 
they  lost  the  respect  of  others.  They  gained  nothing  in 
this  world ;  as  for  the  next,  there  are  some  words  on 
record,  uttered  by  Eternal  Truth,  about  the  folly  of  being 
ashamed  of  Him  here,  and  the  certainty  of  eternal  shame 
for  those  who  yield  to  this  temptation. 

O'Connell  hated  humbug.  He  believed  in  an  honest 
Protestant,  he  respected  an  honest  Catholic,  but  he  could 
not  endure  one  who  professed  to  believe  a  certain  creed,  and 
was  nevertheless  ashamed  of  it. 

O'Connell  was  not  singular  in  his  opinions. 

The  Evening  Post  of  the  10th  June  1813,  contains  the 
following : — 

"  Extract  of  a  private  letter  received  at  our  office  this  morning, 
dated — 

M  1  London,  Monday,  June  7. 
"  *  Two  English  Catholics  of  rank  waited  upon  his  grace  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  on  Saturday  last,  to  inform  him  of  the  valorous 
exploit  of  their  board,  at  its  meeting  of  the  29th  ultimo,  in  expel- 
ling the  venerable  Milner  from  their  room,  with  sltouts  of  indignity 
and  math. 

"  '  The  duke,  who  was  bred  a  Catholic,  retains  his  ancient  habits 
of  intimacy  with  the  bishop,  and  although  lie  renounced  Popery  for 
political  pursuits,  yet  he  has  not,  like  vulgar  renegades,  withdrawn 
his  support  from  the  Catholic  cause.  His  two  noble  visitors  having 
detailed  to  him  their  honourable  triumph  of  the  29th  May — "Aye, 


426 


A  STINGING  REBUKE. 


you  have  done  well,"  observed  his  grace,  with  the  keenest  irony,  "  \ 
applaud  you  for  this  ;  it  is  just  what  I  ought  to  wish.  You  are 
following  my  example.  You  will  soon  become  good  Protestants. 
I  have  been  only  thirty-five  years  beforehand  with  you.  But,  after 
all,  let  me  tell  you,  that  Doctor  Milner  is  only  defending  the  true  old 
Catholic  religion." 

"  '  The  visitors  felt  the  sting,  took  their  leave,  and  returned  to 
Stanhope  Street.'  " 

We  have  not  space,  and  we  candidly  admit  that  we  have 
not  inclination,  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  pitiful  squab- 
bles connected  with  this  subject.  The  Irish  episcopacy 
and  the  Irish  people  were  firm,  as  they  have  ever  been,  in 
the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  and  the  cause  of  truth  and 
justice  triumphed.2 

In  1813,  Castle  Browne,  in  the  county  Kildare,  was 


2  When  Quarantotti's  rescript  arrived  in  Ireland  in  181.4,  Dr  Lanigan, 
the  eminent  Irish  ecclesiastical  historian,  opposed  it  most  vigorously. 
He  showed  that  to  decide  such  a  point  would  have  required  the  de- 
liberation of  the  whole  congregation  of  Propaganda,  and  even  of  an 
(Ecumenical  Council.  In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  Dublin  Even- 
ing Post,  he  said,  u  The  document  is  not  fromhis  Holiness  Pius  VII.  .  . 
nor  is  there  a  word  to  indicate  any  sort  of  consent  or  approbation  from 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff  or  any  one  of  his  cardinals.  Quarantotti  refers 
to  no  authority  but  his  own." 

Ir  an  admirable  little  work,  "  Notices  of  the  Life  and  Character  of 
the  Most  Hev  Dr  Murray,"  by  the  Rev.  William  Meagher,  now  Mon- 
ieigneur  Meagher— Dublin,  1853 — the  whole  subject  is  fully  and  ably 
treated.  This  work  would  be  well  worth  republishing  for  many  reasons. 
On  Good  Friday  1816,  Dv  Murray  delivered  a  most  powerful  sermon 
against  the  Veto.  "  He  implored  the  misguided  advocates  of  vetoism 
not  to  impose  new  and  disgraceful  bands  on  the  mystical  body  of  the 
Redeemer." 


JESUITS  AT  CASTLE  BROWNE. 


427 


purchased  by  the  Jesuits.  This  proceeding,  of  course, 
excited  the  wrath  of  the  Orange  party.  The  Jesuits  have 
had  the  singular  honour  of  being  noted  and  persecuted 
more  than  the  other  religious  orders  in  the  Church.  The 
very  name  is  made  a  by-word  and  reproach ;  and  men 
who  ouirht  to  know  better,  and  whose  understanding  we 
shall  not  insult  by  supposing  them  in  the  state  of  crass 
ignorance  which  their  words  would  seem  to  indicate,  find  a 
singular  pleasure  in  misrepresenting  the  Society  for  any 
excuse  or  for  none. 

The  name  has  done  service  as  a  watchword  of  bigotry,  and 
d  bus  les  Jesuites  has  been  a  party  cry  of  intolerance  for 
several  centuries.  There  will  probably  always  be  a  certain 
class  of  men  who  will  find  the  cry  too  convenient  to 
abandon  it. 

O'Connell  at  once  came  to  the  rescue.  He  introduced 
the  subject  at  a  meeting  of  the  Catholic  Board  on  the  24th 
December  1813. 

"Under  date  of  the  18th  of  last  November,  a  newspaper  in 
the  pay  of  the  Castle  has  the  following  tirade,  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  :>eat  called  Castle  Browne  in  Kildare,  having  been,  as  it  asserts, 
purchased  by  Jesuits  : — 1  Ireland  stands  in  imminent  danger.  If 
Popery  succeeds,  her  fairest  plains  will  once  more  witness  days 
worthy  of  Bloody  Mary;  and  the  walls  of  Derry  shall  again  become 
the  lamentable  bulwarks  against  Popish  treachery  and  massacre ! ' 
Well,  this  from  men  who  hate  the  expression  of  any  kind  of  bigotry 
• — who  are  in  a  rage  at  Dr  Dromgoole  for  using  the  word  1  novelty' 
in  a  disrespectful  sense  !  It  is,  one  would  think,  rather  uncivil, 
'  Papist  treachery  and  massacre '  are  perhaps  nearly  as  bad  as  '  Pro- 


i28       CATHOLICS  OFFICIALLY  TRADUCED. 


tpstafit  novelty.'  But  tliis  is  a  mere  jest  compared  with  a  paragraph 
which  I  found  in  a  Government  paper  of  the  2d  of  this  present  De- 
cember. Hear  it  with  patience  : — 'The  letter  of  Cranmer  (alluding 
to  a  letter  inserted  in  that  paper)  shows  the  times  respectively  when 
each  of  the  fundamental  tenets  of  Popery  was  invented — viz.,  the 
power  of  the  Pope  to  dispense  with  oaths,  and  depose  sovereign 
princes  by  absolving  subjects  from  their  oaths  of  allegiance,  the 
nullity  of  oaths  to  heretics,  their  extirpation  as  a  religious  duty  ! ' 

u  Recollect  that  it  is  not  a  mere  isolated  individual ;  it  is  a  man 
patronised  and  salaried  by  the  administration — a  man  paid  with  our 
money — that  has  the  effrontery  to  traduce  us  thus  ;  to  attribute  to 
us,  as  fundamental  tenets,  doctrines  of  perjury,  murder,  and  treason 
— doctrines  which,  if  they  were  those  of  the  Church  ox  Pome,  I 
would  not  belong  to  her  communion  for  an  hour — doctrines  which 
Bhock  humanity,  and  would  make  religion  the  most  cruel  and  the 
most  absurd  mockery  ! 

•  •••  •••• 

"  Where  is  now  that  fever  of  zeal  and  fever  of  liberality  that  in- 
duced the  public  press  to  strain  all  its  energies  on  the  attack  of  Dr 
Dromgoole1?  Whom  did  his  published  speech  accuse  of  perjury,  of 
murder,  and  treason  ?  What !  shall  it  be  said  that,  like  the  eels  in 
the  story,  we  Catholics  are  so  accustomed  to  be  skinned  alive  that 
we  do  not  feel  it,  but  that  the  sensibility  of  every  other  sect  deserves 
the  highest  protection — that  of  the  Catholic  people  none]  Are, 
then,  the  Catholics,  in  the  opinion  of  their  friends,  in  such  a  state  of 
moral  degradation,  that  it  is  quite  unimportant  how  they  are  treated? 
Alas\  I  much  fear  there  are  too  many  who  think  so;  and,  miserable 
slaves  that  we  are,  our  own  dissensions  encourage  and  justify  the 
opinion. 

But  that  opinion  has  a  higher  source  still.  The  law — the  bar- 
barous and  calumniating  spirit  of  legislation— has  consecrated  the 
contempt  in  which  we  are  held.  No  Protestant  can  hold  office  in 
Ireland  without  being  obliged  to  swear 

"  1  That  the  invocation  of  the  saints,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass, 


PEEL  AND  DR  KENNY. 


429 


as  fhnj  are  now  used  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  are  superstitious  and 
idolatrous  ! ' 

"Take  notice,  it  is  not  any  abstract  notion  that  may  be  formed 
of  these  practices,  but  the  practices  themselves,  *  as  they  are  actually 
vac/.'  are  idolatrous. 

"Thus  our  Protestant  relatives,  kinsmen,  friends,  are  to  swear 
solemnly,  to  attest  to  the  Eternal  Being,  that  we  are  Idolaters  ! 
Hence,  then,  with  the  partial  and  corrupt  irritability  that  seeks  for 
causes  of  censure  in  the  language  of  an  unavowed  individual 
Catholic,  and  forgets  the  paid,  the  salaried,  the  authorised,  alas  !  the 
sworn  calumnies,  the  bigotry  of  our  adversaries." 

O'Connell's  strongest  arguments  were  simply  wasted  on 
men  blinded  by  intolerance.* 

Peel  was  then  secretary  for  Ireland.  He  sent  for  Dr 
Kenny,  the  president  of  the  college,  to  interrogate  him. 
Dr  Kenny  was  perfectly  aware  that  Peel  had  no  authority 
whatever  for  this  proceeding,  but  he  went.  He  proved 
more  than  a  match  for  the  English  statesman,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  interview,  he  said  to  Mr  Peel,  "  I  under- 
stand that  you  have  a  son?"     Mr  Peel  said  he  had.  Dr 

•When  the  Duke  of  Leinster  was  examined  before  Parliament  about  his 
neighbours  the  Jesuits,  he  spoke  of  them  most  fairly,  and  said,  not  without 
some  surprise,  that  he  had  found  them  able  to  bring  up  boys  well.  He 
eaid  their  answers  were  "  wonderful."  So  far  he  was  sufficiently  above 
prejudice  to  be  able  to  comprehend  to  a  certain  extent,  and  to  witness 
fairly  to  a  state  of  life  which  he  had  hitherto  believed  to  be  very  different. 
But  an  amusing  instance  of  Protestant  ignorance  followed  : — 

"  Is  it  not  professedly  an  establishment  for  Jesuits  1 "  he  was  asked. 

"Yes,  they  are  Jesuits,"  answered  the  duke,  "for  I  met  them  in 
Italy." 

We  have  ourselves  known  many  educated  people  who  imagined  any 
(riest  of  ordinary  intelligence  must  be  a  Jesuit 


430      SECURITY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  FUNDS. 


Kenny  replied,  "  I  can  assure  you  with  the  veracity  of  one 
whose  duty  it  is  to  be  truthful,  that  if  you  send  him  to 
our  college,  we  shall  make  him  a  sound  scholar."  Peel 
laughed  heartily,  but  declined  the  favour.  In  the  course 
of  this  important  interview,  Peel  had  more  than  suggested 
that  the  property  o^  the  Jesuits  could  and  would  be  con- 
fiscated : — 

«  t  jyjr  pgg]^  replied  Dr  Kenny,  with  great  calmness  and  good, 
humour,  '  it  may  be  so  *  your  Government  may  attempt,  and  have 
the  power  to  effect  such  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  property,  but  in 
doing  so  they  will  also  violate  the  maxim  of  Lord  Chatham,  whose 
statesmanship  you  profess  to  hold  in  reverence.  As  you  may  not 
recollect  the  circumstance  at  this  moment,  suffer  me  to  recall  it  to 
you.  It  having  been  suggested  to  him  to  lay  hold  of  the  moneys 
lying  in  the  English  funds,  in  the  names  of  natives  of  France,  with 
whom  war  was  then  waging  :  "  No,  no,"  said  he  ;  "  if  the  devil  had 
money  in  the  English  funds,  it  should  be  held  safe  for  him  !"'" 

Either  Mr  Peel  thought  that  the  Jesuits  had  as  much 
right  to  fair  play  as  the  devil,  or,  what  is  more  probable, 
he  did  not  consider  it  expedient  to  interfere  with  them, 
for  they  were  left  in  peace.  Wisdom  is  not  hereditary, 
but  undoubtedly  prejudice  is,  and  were  not  the  subject 
of  such  grave  importance,  it  would  be  amusing  to  find  the 
son  following  in  the  footsteps  of  the  father  at  the  present 
day.4 

4  We  refer  to  the  following  report  of  some  observations  made  by  the 
present  baronet,  as  given  in  the  Standard  of  July  24,  1872— 

"  Sir  B  Peel — I  wish  to  ask  the  Prime  Minister  a  question  springing 
out  of  that  which  has  just  been  answered  by  the  noble  lord.    It  will  be 


TEE  JESUITS  AXD   THE  COMMUNISTS.  431 


With  amusing  servility  to  English  opinion  the  Nero  York 
Times  followed  suit,  and  on  the  30th  of  July  declared 
that— 

in  the  recolbction  of  the  house,  that  during  the  course  of  the  present 
session  many  questions  have  been  asked  respecting  the  influx  of  Com- 
pnmists  into  this  country,  and  we  understand  that  the  Government  have 
instructed  Lord  Lyons  to  use  his  best  exertions  to  prevent  this  in  dux. 
No  doubt  the  Communists  are  a  very  criminal  class,  but  in  many  cases 
they  are  misguided,  and  the  victims  of  circumstances.  The  question  I 
have  to  put  refers  to  an  equally  dangerous  and  obnoxious  class.  I  refer 
to  the  order  of  the  Jesuits.  My  question  has  reference  to  recent  acts  of 
spiritual  power  exercised  in  Ireland." 

We  hope  the  right  hon.  member  for  Tamworth  will  not  be  obliged  to 
put  his  partiality  for  the  Communists  to  a  practical  test  We  should  like 
to  know  very  much  the  "circumstances"  to  which  they  have  been  victims. 
In  default  of  all  evidence  we  must  believe  that  the  Jesuits  who  have 
been  expelled  from  Germany,  without  one  single  accusation  being  proved 
against  them,  the  real  victims.  The  allusion  to  the  Galway  trial  is 
curious.  Even  Judge  Keogh  himself  would  be  puzzled  to  make  out  any 
'•Jesuit  influence"  in  that  affair.  The  next  thing,  we  suppose,  will  be 
to  indict  the  order  for  it.  It  is  strange  how  an  English  gentleman  of  ordi- 
nary education  could  be  so  hopelessly  ignorant  of  cotemporary  history. 

We  find  in  the  same  number  of  the  Standard  the  following  civil 

o 

remarks  about  eminent  Catholics  : — 

"  The  Pope  tells  us  that  now  he  has  nothing  to  look  to  but  the  divine 
assistance.  Prayer  is  the  instrument  which  he  depends  on  his  followers 
to  employ.  How  delightful  a  prospect  this  seems  to  promise  for  sober, 
order-loving  citizens  ;  if  the  Pope  and  Cardinal  Antonelli,  the  Von 
Kreuients  and  Von  Kettelers,  the  Cullens  and  M 'Hales,  could  only 
devote  themselves  to  prayer,  we  should  be  rid  of  the  scandal  of  a  number 
of  men,  clothed  with  the  highest  functions  of  religion,  only  opening 
their  mouths  to  calumniate  their  neighbours,  and  picture  their  eternal 
damnation.  Let  them  retire  into  their  closets,  and  we  should  escape 
the  pernicious  influence  which  these  men,  by  their  influence  over  the 
ignorant  masses,  add  to  the  other  elements  of  disorganisation  which  now 
abound  in  the  world." 


INCREASING  POPULARITY. 


"The  Jesuits  and  the  International  Society  may  now  rank  as  tho 

two  bugbears  of  the  Courts  of  Europe." 

There  were  Whalleys  and  Newdegates  in  the  House  in 
th^se  clays,  and  there  probably  will  be  until  the  advent  of 
Macaulay's  New  Zealander.  Mr  Peel  tried  to  calm  their 
perturbed  spirits  by  giving  them  some  information  con- 
cerning his  interview  with  Dr  Kenny;  but  he  was  neither 
sufficiently  honourable  nor  sufficiently  large-minded  to  give 
full  details. 

O'Conneli's  popularity  was  now  rapidly  approaching  its 
highest  point.  At  a  meeting  in  Louth,  7th  August  1813,  a 
vote  of  thanks  was  proposed  to  him,  James  Kieran,  Esq., 
being  in  the  chair ;  at  Kilkenny  the  same  compliment 
was  paid  to  him,  Captain  Byran  in  the  chair ;  at  Tralee, 
Dominick  Rice,  Esq.,  presided;  at  Wexford,  Harry  Lambert, 
Esq.;  at  Gal  way,  Lord  Ffrench  ;  at  Cork,  John  Galway, 
Esq.  At  the  latter  place  O'Connell  was  chaired  home  after 
a  public  meeting,  and  addressed  the  people  "  from  the 
windows  of  Laffin's,  the  hatter." 

On  the  14th  January  1815,  the  manufacturers  of  the 
Liberty  of  Dublin  presented  him  with  a  silver  cup,  richly 
carved. 

Faction  has  been  the  curse  of  Ireland,  and  it  might  be 
expected  that  O'Conneli's  popularity  would  procure  him 
many  enemies.  The  class  of  men  who  now  try  to  hunt 
down  a  Catholic  justice  of  the  peace,  or  custos  rotulorum, 
by  swearing  informations,  if  he  gives  them  even  the  ex- 


THE  ORDER   OF  THE  DAT. 


433 


cuse  of  an  indiscretion  of  language  or  action,  were  then 
ready  and  eager  to  shoot  him  down.  It  need  not  be  said 
that  duelling  was  the  order  of  the  day,  and  it  was  too 
often  made  an  excuse  for  getting  rid  of  a  political  op- 
ponent Even  in  elections,  an  attorney  was  selected  quite 
as  often  with  a  view  to  his  skill  with  pistols  as  to  his  skill 
with  liis  tongue.* 


•  At  an  election  for  the  county  Wexford  in  1810,  when  Messrs  Alcock 
and  Colclough  were  rival  candidates,  some  tenants  of  a  friend  of  Alcock 
declared  their  intention  of  voting  for  Colclough.  "  Receive  their  votes 
at  your  peril  !  "  exclaimed  Alcock.  Colclough  replied  that  he  had  not 
asked  their  votes,  and  that  he  certainly  would  not  be  bullied  into  reject- 
ing them.  Alcock  thereupon  challenged  Colclough  to  fight ;  they  met 
on  the  next  day;  the  crowd  who  assembled  on  the  ground  included 
many  magistrates  ;  Colclough  was  shot  through  the  heart — and  Alcock, 
having  thus  got  rid  of  his  opponent,  was  duly  returned  for  the  county. 
He  was  tried  at  the  next  assizes  for  the  murder  of  Colclough.  Baron 
Smith  publicly  protested  against  finding  him  guilty,  and  the  jury  una- 
nimously acquitted  him. 

"King  Bagenal"  was  one  of  the  most  noted  duellists  of  the  day. 
He  earned  his  sobriquet  of  king,  from  the  extent  of  property  which 
he  possessed,  and  over  which  he  ruled  in  most  despotic  fashion. 

It  said  that  Bagenal  accepted  a  challenge  in  his  seventy-ninth  year, 
only  stipulating  that  he  should  fight  sitting  in  his  arm-chair;  and 
that,  as  his  infirmities  prevented  early  rising,  the  meeting  should  take 
place  in  the  afternoon.  "  Time  was,"  said  the  old  man  with  a  sigh, 
"  that  I  would  have  risen  before  daybreak  to  fight  at  sunrise — but  we 
cannot  do  these  things  at  seventy-eight.    Well,  Heaven's  will  be  done  ! " 

They  fought  at  twelve  paces.  Bagenal  wounded  his  antagonist  severely; 
the  arm  of  the  chair  in  which  he  sat  was  shattered,  but  he  escaped  un- 
hurt ;  and  he  ended  the  day  with  a  glorious  carouse,  tapping  the  claret, 
we  may  presume  as  usual,  by  firing  a  pistol  at  the  cask. 

The  traditions  of  Dunleckny  allege  that  when  Bagenal,  in  the  course 

2  E 


434  KINO  BAGENAL. 

_  1  ■  — — — — —  'W 

O'Connell's  duel  with  D'Esterre  was  one  of  the  most 
noted  incidents  in  his  eventful  life;  but  it  was  the  fact  of 
O'Conneirs  having  fought  the  duel,  and  the  consequences 
that  ensued,  which  has  made  the  event  so  famous,  rather 
than  any  circumstances  connected  with  its  origin. 

The  Catholic  Board  had  been  suppressed,  and  those 
members  of  the  aristocracy  who  had  sanctioned  or  sup- 
ported it  hitherto,  were  at  least  very  willing  to  withdraw 
from  a  position  which  promised  them  no  immediate  ad- 
vantage, and  which  compromised  them  in  the  opinions  of 
the  Protestant  nobility.  Their  conduct  was  natural,  if 
it  was  not  national.    They  could  not  be  expected  to  under- 


of  his  tour  through  Europe,  visited  the  petty  court  of  Mecklenburgh- 
Strelitz,  the  Grand  Duke,  charmed  with  his  magnificence  and  the  repu- 
tation of  his  wealth,  made  him  an  offer  of  the  hand  of  the  fair  Charlotte, 
who,  being  politely  rejected  by  King  Bagenal,  was  afterwards  accepted 
by  King  George  III. 

For  all  levers  of  good  horses,  good  dogs,  and  <xood  wines,  Dunleclmy 
was  a  terrestrial  paradise.  His  stud  was  magnificent,  and  he  had  a  large 
number  of  capital  hunters  at  the  service  of  visitors  who  were  not  pro- 
vided with  steeds  of  their  own.  He  derived  great  delight  from  encou- 
raging the  young  men  who  frequented  his  house  to  drink,  hunt,  and 
solve  points  of  honour  at  twelve  paces.*  Enthroned  at  Dunleckny,  he 
gathered  around  him  a  host  of  spirits  congenial  to  his  own.  He  had  a 
tender  affection  for  pistols  ;  a  brace  of  saw-handles  were  often  laid 
before  him  on  the  dinner-table.  After  dinner,  the  claret  was  produced 
in  an  unbroached  cask.  Bagenal's  practice  was  to  tap  the  cask  with  a 
bullet  from  one  of  his  own  pistols,  whilst  he  kept  the  other  in  terrorem 
for  any  of  the  convives  who  should  fail  in  doing  ample  justice  to  the 
wine. 

*  "  Ireland  and  her  Agitators,"  p.  6. 


WAST  OF  MORAL  COURAGE. 


435 


6tand  sufferings  which  they  did  not  feel,  nor  to  reseni 
Blights  that  were  not  offered  to  them.  Their  religion, 
indeed,  taught  them  the  duty  of  a  deep,  personal  interest 
in  the  poor,  and  in  all  human  suffering ;  but  there  are  not 
many  who  carry  out  practically  to  the  fullest  extent  what 
they  know  in  theory.  They  were,  perhaps,  unduly  blamed 
by  the  leading  agitators  of  the  time;  at  least,  there  was 
scarcely  sufficient  allowance  made  for  their  position. 

Agitation,  unless  it  is  successful,  is  seldom  considered 
respectable.  Those  men  who  had  found  their  way  to 
court,  and  who  were  now  received  on  friendly  terms  by 
their  equals  in  rank,  did  not  care  to  have  the  contempt  of 
failure  thrown  on  them,  or  to  mix  themselves  up  with  what 
was  considered  discreditable  by  those  whose  opinions  they 
valued  most.  It  was  enough  for  them  to  bear  the  brand  of 
a  religion  which  they  would  not  forsake,  though  they  were 
fain  to  keep  it  out  of  sight.  If  to  this  stigma  they  added 
that  of  political  discontent,  and,  above  all,  of  any  sympathy 
with  their  Irish  fellow-subjects,  if  they  were  agitators, 
or  their  Catholic  co-religionists  if  they  were  English,  it 
would  be  an  additional  stigma  which  they  did  not  feel 
disposed  to  bear.  There  are  few  things  which  men  feel 
more  than  social  discredit.  Men  who  would  die  martyrs 
at  the  stake  for  their  religion,  if  they  were  compelled  to 
choose  between  apostacy  and  God,  would  be  guilty  of 
pitiful  moral  cowardice  when  some  sneer  or  taunt  was 
flung  at  them  for  it,  or  at  those  who  were  more  faith- 


D'  EST  £11  HE  AND  0' CON  NELL. 


ful  to  it  than  themselves,  and  who  belong  to  a  race  which 
the  great  ones  of  the  world  hold  in  undisguised  contempt. 

In  conseqoence  of  these  difficulties  O'Connell  held  a 
meeting  in  Capel  Street  in  January  1815.  The  proceed- 
ings were  conducted  without  any  formality,  the  gentlemen 
merely  entering  their  names  in  a  book  which  was  opened 
for  the  purpose.  At  another  meeting  held  during  the 
same  month,  and  at  the  same  place,  O'Connell  used  these 
words  : — 

"I  am  convinced  that  the  Catholic  cause  has  suffered  by  neglect 
of  discussion.  Had  the  petition  been  last  year  the  subject  of  de- 
bate, we  should  not  now  see  the  beggarly  Corporation  of  Dublin 
anticipating  our  efforts  by  a  petition  of  an  opposite  tendency.  The 
Duke  of  Sussex  in  the  Lords,  and  Mr  Whitbred  in  the  Commons, 
appear  to  me  persons  worthy  to  be  entrusted  with  our  petition." 

Mr  D'Esterre  belonged  to  the  Guild  of  Merchants. 
He  had  been  at  sea  in  his  early  life,  and  did  not  bear  a 
very  high  character.  During  the  mutiny  of  the  Nore,  he 
was  tried  by  the  sailors,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  At 
the  last  moment  they  offered  him  his  life  if  he  would  join 
them.    The  rope  was  then  round  his  neck.    With  coarse 

courage  he  exclaimed,  "  Hang  away,  and  be  d  d." 

They  spared  him,  nevertheless  ;  he  little  thought,  for  what 
other  death. 

The  words  used  by  O'Connell  were  scarcely  sufficient 
even  in  those  days  for  an  affair  of  honour;  very  much 
stronger  language  was  used  with  impunity  by  public  men 
to  each  other,  and  condoned  by  public  opinion,  but  Mr  D'Es- 


D'ESTERRE  AND  O'CONNELL,  437 

terre  had  "  method  in  his  rudeness."  He  hoped  for  place 
and  pension,  and  he  was  sure  of  his  reward,  if  he  obliged 
the  Government  by  getting  rid  of  their  most  formidable 
Opponent;  probably,  too,  his  petty  vanity  was  gratified  at  the 
prospect  of  publicity,  and  as  he  was  a  first-rate  shot,  he 
had  little  apprehension  as  to  the  result.  O'Connell  was 
not  a  duellist ;  he  was  eminently  a  man  of  peace.  It  has 
been  the  fashion  with  English  writers  to  talk  of  him  as  a 
swaggering  bravado — his  conduct  proved  him  precisely  the 
reverse.  He  was  then  pre-eminently  the  peacemaker  of 
the  Catholic  party  in  their  early  struggles,  as  he  wras  pre- 
eminently the  peacemaker  in  Ireland's  most  trying  days. 
We  are  not  about  to  justify  O'Connell  for  fighting  a  duel, 
but  if  ever  a  duel  could  be  justifiable,  it  was  so  in  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  he  was  placed. 

D'Esterre  did  his  pitiful  best  to  make  O'Connell  the 
aggressor.  He  paraded  Dublin  day  after  day  with  a  horse- 
whip in  his  hand,  and  coarse  language  in  his  tongue  ;  but 
O'Connell  was  too  prudent  to  be  caught  by  the  wily  Orange- 
man. Every  gentleman  was  asking  his  friend  significantly 
had  "  they  "  met  yet  ?  The  streets  were  thronged  ;  busi- 
ness was  almost  suspended ;  the  yelping  cur  was  snapping 
at  the  heels  of  the  lordly  lion,  but  the  lion  kept  his 
distance. 

The  civic  authorities  were  gratified,  though  they  dared  not 
openly  applaud  just  yet.  D'Esterre's  iriends  hired  the 
window  of  a  house  in  Grafton  Street,  the  fashionable  and 


438 


D'ESTERRE  AND  O'CONNELL. 


in  some  degree  also  the  business  resort  of  the  day.  Thej 
hoped  to  see  D'Esterre  horse-whip  O'Connell;  it  does  not 
seem  to  have  occurred  to  them  that  there  would  be  two 
actors  in  the  performance  —  that,  before  the  miserable 
aggressor  could  have  lifted  his  whip,  he  would  probably  have 
found  himself  flung  into  the  highway  with  one  little  effort 
of  O'ConnelPs  powerful  arm. 

As  D'Esterre  could  not  .provoke  an  assault,  he  was 
obliged  to  send  a  challenge.  On  the  26th  February  1815, 
he  addressed  O'Connell  thus  : — 

"11  Bachelors'  Walk,  26th  January  1815. 
"  Sir, — Carrick's  paper  of  the  23d  instant  (in  its  report  of  the 
debates  of  a  meeting  of  Catholic  gentlemen,  on  the  subject  of  a  peti- 
tion) states,  that  you  have  applied  the  appellation  of  beggarly  to  the 
corporation  of  this  city,  calling  it  a  beggarly  corporation — and  there- 
fore, as  a  member  of  that  body,  and  feeling  how  painful  such  is,  I 
beg  leave  to  inquire  whether  you  really  used  or  expressed  yourself 
in  any  such  language?  I  feel  the  more  justified  in  calling  on  you 
on  this  occasion,  as  such  language  was  not  warranted  or  provoked  by 
anything  on  the  part  of  the  corporation  ;  neither  was  it  consistent 
with  the  subject  of  your  debate,  or  the  deportment  of  the  other 
Catholic  gentlemen  who  were  present;  and  though  I  view  it  so  in- 
consistent in  every  respect,  I  am  in  hopes  the  editor  is  under  error, 
and  not  you.  I  have  further  to  request  your  reply  in  the  course  oi 
the  evening,  and  remain,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  N.  D'ESTERRE. 

"  To  Counsellor  O'Connell,  Merrion  Square." 

Mr  O'ConnelPs  answer  was  as  follows  : — 

"Merrion  Square,  27th  January  1815. 
"  Sir, — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  yesterday,  and  without  either 
admitting  or  disclaiming  the  expression  respecting  the  Corporation  of 


D'ESTERRE  AND  0  COS NELL. 


439 


Dublin  in  the  print  to  which  you  allude,  I  deem  it  right  to  inform 
you  that,  from  the  calumnious  manner  in  which  the  religion  and 
character  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  are  treated  in  that  body,  no 
terms  attributed  to  me,  however  reproachful,  can  exceed  the  con- 
temptuous feelings  I  entertain  for  that  body  in  its  corporate 
iWttacity  ;  although  doubtless  it  contains  many  valuable  persons, 
whos*  conduct  as  individuals  (I  lament)  must  necessarily  be  con- 
founded in  the  acts  of  a  general  body.  I  have  only  to  add  that 
this  letter  mast  close  our  correspondence  on  this  subject. — I  am, 
<fcc,  Ac.,  Daniel  O'Connell." 

«  To  J.  N.  D"Esterre,  Esq.,  11  Bachelors'  Walk." 

For  some  reason,  by  no  means  apparent,  D'Esterre 
wished  to  continue  the  correspondence.  He  sent  another 
letter  to  O'Connell,  but  though  the  handwriting  was  dis- 
guised, the  author  was  suspected,  and  it  was  returned  un- 
read by  Mr  James  O'Connell. 

u  On  Sunday,  Mr  D'Esterre  sent  a  note  to  Mr  uames  O'Connell, 
containing  *  disrespectful  observations 9  on  himself  and  his  brother, 
and  he  scut  his  friend  Captain  O'Mullane  to  Mr  D'Esterre  to  say, 
that  after  he  adjusted  his  affair  with  his  brother,  he  would  bring  him 
to  account  for  his  conduct  to  himself  peculiarly. 

"  Captain  O'Mullane  at  the  same  time  intimated,  that  Counsellor 
O'Connell  was  astonished  at  his  not  hearing  in  what  he  conceived  the 
•proper  way  from  Mr  D'Esterre. 

"Nothing  further  happened  on  Sunday,  and  on  Monday  morning, 
Mr  Lidwell,  who  remained  here  several  days  to  be  the  friend  of  Mr 
O'Connell,  though  some  members  of  his  family  were  seriously  indis- 
posed, left  town  for  home,  despairing  of  any  issue  being  put  to  the 
controversy. 

"  Monday  passed  on,  and  on  Tuesday  considerable  sensation  was 
created  by  a  rumour,  that  Mr  D'Esterre  was  advised  to  go  to  the- 
Four  Courts,  to  offer  Mr  O'Connell  personal  violence.  Neisher  of 
the  parties  came  in  contact,  but  it  seems  that  Mr  D'Esterre  was  met 


440         JUDGE  DAT  AND  BARNEY  COILE. 


on  one  of  the  quays  by  Mr  Packard  O'Gorman,  who  remonstrated 
with  him  by  silting,  that  he  conceived  he  was  pursuing  a  very  un- 
usual sort  of  conduct.  4  You  conceive,'  said  he,  'that  you  received 
an  offence  from  Mr  O'Connell ;  if  so,  your  course  is  to  demand 
satisfaction.  This,  I  understand,  you  have  not  as  yet  done,  but  if 
you  are  now  resolved  to  do  it,  I  undertake,  on  forfeiture  of  having  a 
riddle  made  of  my  body,  to  have  Mr  O'Connell  on  his  ground  in  half 
an  hour.'  This  occurred  about  three  o'clock,  but  no  challenge 
followed."  6 

The  excitement  increased  every  moment.  O'Connell 
paraded  the  streets  at  four  o'clock  with  a  few  friends,  but 
such  crowds  surrounded  him  that  he  was  obliged  to  retire 
into  a  private  house. 

Judge  Day  now  came  to  place  him  under  arrest ;  at  the 
same  time,  he  said,  he  would  be  satisfied  if  Mr  O'Connell 
would  pledge  his  honour  to  proceed  no  further  in  the 
business,  which,  considering  that  O'Connell  wras  not  the 
aggressor,  was  extremely  considerate. 

O'Connell  said  what  was  true,  that  he  was  not  the 
aggressor,  and  did  not  intend  to  be  the  aggressor.  One  of 
O'Connell' s  friends  who  was  present,  the  famous  Barnejf 
Coile,  said — 

" '  That  it  was  very  insulting  that  a  ruffian  should  be  allowed  to 
parade  the  streets  of  Dublin  during  two  days,  in  order  to  assault  a 
worthy  man  who  is  the  father  of  six  children — and  this  without  any 
hindrance  or  interruption  from  the  magistrates.' 

"  ' 1  hope,  sir,  you  are  satisfied,'  said  Judge  Day,  *  that  the  lawa 
are  competent  to  reach  all  such  offenders.' 


6  Dublin  livening  Post,  Full  reports  of  each  day's  proceedings  was 
given  in  this  paper. 


A   MEET IX G  ARRANGED. 


441 


"'By  my  bou],'  replied  Barney  Coile,  'I  am  very  well  satisfied 
the  laws  can  reach  us  if  we  transgress ;  but  during  the  two  days  he 
has  been  seeking  to  etfect  a  breach  of  the  peace,  the  laws  have  not 
leached  that  fellow.'" 

At  nine  o'clock  on  Wednesday  evening,  Sir  E.  Stanley 
waned  on  O'Connell  at  his  house  in  Merrion  Square,  and  a 
hostile  meeting  was  arranged, — O'Connell  having  secured 
the  services  of  Major  MacNamara.  The  place  selected  was 
Lord  Ponsonby's  demesne,  about  thirteen  miles  from 
Dublin,  the  time  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

O'Connell  was  on  the  spot  punctually,  attended  by  his 
brother  James,  and  some  other  friends.  He  was  as  cool 
and  collected  as  if  he  were  about  to  address  a  jury,  instead 
of  entering  on  a  deadly  conflict.  As  his  carriage  passed 
over  a  broken-down  bridge,  he  turned  to  his  brother  James 
and  said,  "  See,  James,  how  little  care  they  take  of  the 
lives  of  his  Majesty's  subjects." 

D'Esterre  was  later  on  the  ground,  which  was  white 
with  snow.  The  seconds  took  some  time  making  arrange- 
ments, and  Sir  Edward  Stanley  was  in  considerable  per- 
turbation as  to  the  result  if  O'Connell  should  fall,  a 
consummation  of  which  we  may  presume  he  had  not  the 
slightest  doubt.  Major  MacNamara  occupied  himself 
giving  O'Connell  a  number  of  directions.  The  Liberator 
could  stand  it  no  longer.  "  My  dear  fellow,  I  have  one 
earnest  request  to  make  you,"  he  said,  addressing  his 
second  with  that  impressive  solemnity  which  no  man  could 


442 


LAST  ACT  OF  THE  TRAGEDY. 


better  assume.  The  major  listened  for  his  friend's  last  words 
with  evident  anxiety.  "  Let  me  beg  of  you" — he  paused 
— '*  let  me  beg  of  you,"  he  reiterated,  "  not  to  say  another 
word  to  me  until  the  duel  is  over." 

O'ConnelPs  keen  eye  took  in  all  around.  He  saw  his 
tailor,  Jerry  Mac  Car  thy  on  the  ground,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Well,  Jerry;  I  never  missed  you  at  an  aggregate  meet- 

ing." 

The  Dublin  Evening  Post  of  the  day  thus  describes  the 

last  act  of  the  tragedy : — 

"  The  friends  of  both  parties  retired,  and  the  combatants,  having 
a  pistol  in  each  hand,  with  directions  to  discharge  them  at  their 
discretion,  prepared  to  fire.  They  levelled,  and  before  the  lapse  of 
a  second  both  shots  were  heard.  Mr  D'Esterre  fired  first,  and 
missed.  Mr  O'ConnelPs  shot  followed  instantaneously,  and  took 
effect  in  the  groin  of  his  antagonist,  about  an  inch  below  the  hip. 
Mr  D'Esterre,  of  course,  fell,  and  both  the  surgeons  hastened  to 
him.  They  found  that  the  ball  had  traversed  the  hip,  passed 
through  the  bladder,  and  possibly  touched  the  spine.  It  could  not 
be  found.  There  was  an  immense  effusion  of  blood.  All  parties 
prepared  to  move  towards  home,  and  arrived  in  town  before  eight 
o'clock.  We  were  extremely  glad  to  perceive  that  Major  MaeNa- 
mara  and  many  respectable  gentlemen  assisted  in  procuring  the 
best  accommodation  for  the  wounded  man.  They  sympathised  in 
his  sufferings,  and  expressed  themselves  to  Sir  Edward  Stanley  as 
extremely  well  pleased  that  a  transaction  which  they  considered 
most  uncalled  for,  had  not  terminated  in  the  death  of  D'Esterre. 
We  need  not  describe  the  emotions  which  burst  forth  along  the  road 
and  through  the  town  when  it  was  ascertained  that  Mr  O'Connell 
was  safe." 

A  body  of  cavalry  was  despatched  to  the  scene  of  con- 


"GOD  BE  PRAISED,  IRELAND  IS  SAFE."  443 


flict,  but,  either  by  accident  or  design,  they  arrived  too  late 
for  active  interference.  It  was  generally  believed  at  the 
time  that  they  were  sent  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  Mr 
D'Esterre  in  case  he  should  have  shot  O'Connell.  They  met 
O'Connell's  carriage  returning,  but  did  not  recognise  the 
occupants,  and  inquired  if  Mr  O'Connell  had  been  shot.  Mr 
James  O'Connell  replied,  "  No  ;  Mr  D'Esterre  has  unfor- 
tunately fallen." 

D'Esterre  only  lived  a  few  days ;  and  to  his  latest  breath 
O'Connell  never  forgave  himself  for  the  fatality.  He 
pensioned  the  widow  and  daughter,  and  on  one  occasion 
conducted  a  case  for  Mrs  D'Esterre  in  the  law  courts,  at 
serious  loss  and  inconvenience  to  himself.  In  after  life, 
also,  it  was  observed  that  he  never  passed  the  house  once 
occupied  by  that  gentleman,  without  raising  his  hat,  and 
breathing  a  prayer  for  his  eternal  welfare. 

O'Connell  was  at  first  apprehensive  of  legal  proceedings, 
but  he  received  an  early  and  polite  assurance  from  Sir 
Edward  Stanley  that  no  such  thing  was  contemplated. 
When  the  intelligence  wras  brought  to  Archbishop  Murray 
by  Mr  James  O'Connell,  he  exclaimed,  "  God  be  praised ; 
Ireland  is  safe.''  Yet,  much  as  Ireland  would  have 
mourned  O'Connell's  death  even  then,  how  little  could 
even  the  most  prescient  have  anticipated  what  he  would  yet 
do  for  her.7 

7  As  the  party  travelled  back  to  Dublin  they  were  all  silent  until  near 
the  city,  when  O'Connell  said,  "  I  fear  he  must  be  dead,  he  fell  so 


444 


AGRARIAN  OUTRAGES. 


In  the  year  1816  some  agrarian  outrages  occurred,  for 
which,  of  course,  blame  was  laid  on  every  one  except  those 
who  were  really  guilty.  The  people,  already  crushed 
down  to  the  lowest  depths  of  poverty,  were  compelled  to 
pay  tithes,  not,  indeed,  of  what  they  had,  but  of  what 
they  had  not. 

The  unhappy  peasantry  were  denounced,  guilty  or  not 
guilty,  and,  of  course,  "  the  priests"  were  to  blame.  The  u  No- 
Popery"  cry  was  always  serviceable,  and  it  was  easily  echoed. 
A  Dublin  Government  paper  had  the  following  paragraph, 
which  O'Connell  quoted  at  a  public  meeting  : — 

"  I  will  lay  before  the  reader  such  specimens  of  the  popish  super- 
stition as  will  convince  him  that  the  treasonable  combinations 
cemented  by  oaths,  and  the  nocturnal  robbery  and  assassination 
which  have  prevailed  for  many  years  past  in  Ireland,  and  still  exist 
in  many  parts  of  it,  are  produced  as  a  necessary  consequence  by  its 
intolerant  and  sanguinary  principles" 

It  was  necessary  to  have  something  like  a  fact,  to 
prove  the  assertion,  and  the  fact  was  forthcoming  in  due 
time. 

The  Eev.  John  Hamilton,  an  Orangeman,  and  a  magi- 
strate, was  Protestant  curate  of  Roscrea.    The  Monaghan 

suddenly  ;  where  do  you  think  he  was  hit  V9  The  docter  replied,  "  In 
the  head."  "  That  cannot  be,"  replied  O'Connell  ;  "  I  aimed  low  ;  it 
must  have  entered  near  the  thigh."  Mrs  D'Esterre  went  to  England 
with  her  daughter,  and  married  a  brother  of  Mr  Guinness',  the  cele- 
brated brewer,  and  founder  of  the  fortunes  of  the  Guinness  family. 
Miss  D'Esterre,  who  was  an  accomplished  musician,  married  a  son  of 
her  Ftep-father,  by  his  first  wife. 


n  A  MILT  OX  AXD  HIS  ACCOMPLICES.  445 


Militia,  all  Orangemen,  were  quartered  there,  and  he 
devoted  himself  to  superintending  them  as  they  scoured  the 
country,  playing  party  tune?,  and  doing  their  best  to  exas- 
perate the  people.  But  the  people  would  not  be  exasperated, 
and  then  a  scheme  of  so  diabolical  a  character  was  planned, 
that  if  there  were  not  the  evidence  of  a  court  of  law  to  prove 
the  facts,  we  might  pardon  any  reader,  Catholic  or  Pro- 
testant, for  discrediting  the  whole  narrative. 

Mr  Hamilton  deliberately  set  himself  to  get  up  a  plot.  He 
obtained  the  services  of  a  villain  named  Dyer,  who  was  only 
less  contemptible  than  himself,  because  he  only  carried  out 
"what  his  master  planned.  First,  he  swore  that  the  Catholics 
had  made  a  plot  to  murder  all  the  Protestants,  and  that  they 
held  secret  meetings  for  this  purpose.  A  lie  or  two,  more 
or  less,  did  not  matter,  so  he  swore  to  time  and  place.  These 
"startling  disclosures"  excited  much  alarm,  but  this  was 
not  sufficient.  Dyer,  or  rather  Mr  Hamilton,  wanted  a 
victim.  He  had  his  eye  on  one,  a  respectable  Catholic  dis- 
tiller ;  so  he  next  proceeded  to  get  a  regular  spy  from 
Dublin.  It  was  not  difficult,  for  the  Rebellion  had  provided 
a  crop  of  infamous  characters  who  lived  on  falsehood. 

The  three  worthies  then  arranged  their  plan.  Evidently 
it  was  not  the  first  plot  of  the  kind  which  the  "  detective  " 
had  carried  out.  A  straw  figure  was  attired  in  a  suit  of 
Mr  Hamilton's  clothes,  and  placed  sitting  at  the  table  on 
the  ground-floor.  The  back  was  turned  to  the  window ;  the 
figure  faced  the  table,  on  which  lay  an  open  Bible.  Two 


446 


THE   VILLAINOUS  PLOT  DETECTED. 


candles  were  lighted,  for  as  the  deed  required  darkness  out- 
side, it  was  done  at  night.  Dyer  and  Halpin,  the  spy,  fired 
at  the  figure  through  the  window.  The  commotion  was  ter- 
rible ;  it  was  soon  known  through  the  town  that  the  rev. 
magistrate  had  been  shot  at  while  reading  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures, and  that  he  had  made  a  most  miraculous  escape. 

As  Mr  Hamilton  was  a  magistrate,  he  could  act  as  he 
pleased,  and  he  at  once  called  out  the  militia,  and  had  the 
Egans  arrested.  They  were  bailed  out  next  morning 
with  great  difficulty ;  but  on  the  11th  July  1816,  he  arrested 
them  again,  and  actually  succeeded  in  having  them  brought 
to  trial.  A  special  commission  was  held  in  Clonmel.  Lord 
Norbury  and  Baron  George  presided.  Charles  Kendal 
Burke,  the  Solicitor- General,  was  crown  prosecutor. 

Dyer  told  his  story  admirably,  and  gave  detailed  evidence 
of  the  midnight  meetings,  the  military  exercises,  and  all 
the  incidents  necessary  to  complete  the  accusation.  Some 
glimpses  of  light,  however,  were  obtained  in  cross-examina- 
tion. It  was  proved  that  Dyer  was  in  receipt  of  five  shillings 
a  week  for  suppressing  evidence  against  Francis  Cotton,  who 
was  tried  for  murder.  The  Eev.  John  Hamilton  was  the 
next  witness.  He  had  employed  too  many  to  help  him  in  his 
villainous  plot,  and  something  of  the  truth  was  ascertained. 
On  cross-examination  he  was  obliged  to  admit  the  truth.  Ho 
tried  to  excuse  himself  by  adding  subterfuge  to  falsehood,  but 
it  was  useless.  No  attempt  was  made  to  punish  him ;  but 
Dyer  was  indicted  for  wilful  and  corrupt  perjury.  The 


PEEL  A  XL  O'COXXELL. 


447 


grand  jury,  however,  ignored  the  bill,  and  Dyer  went  forth 
on  the  world  to  plot  new  schemes  for  the  destruction  of 
innocent  men. 

We  do  not  hear,  however,  in  those  limes,  evil  as  they 
were,  that  the  most  holy  rites  of  religion  were  profaned  for 
Inch  purposes ;  that  method  of  treachery  was  reserved  for 
our  own  time. 

In  1815,  O'Connell  was  engaged  in  another  "affair  of 
honour,"  the  circumstances  of  which  were  "  singularly 
complicated,"  according  to  the  public  reports  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. 

O'Connell  "dared"  Mr  Peel  to  attack  him  in  his  pre- 
sence, as  he  had  attacked  him  behind  his  back.  Sir  Charles 
Saxton  thereupon  waited  on  O'Connell  for  his  friend,  Mr 
Peel.  After  a  war  of  words,  both  colloquially  and  on 
paper,  in  which  both  parties  seemed  willing  to  avoid  a 
hostile  meeting,  the  hostile  meeting  was  arranged  by 
"  friends,"  who  were  then  unnecessarily  obliging  on  such 
occasions. 

Sir  Charles  Saxton  and  Mr  Lidwell,  O'Connell's  friends, 
contrived  to  get  into  a  cross  quarrel  on  their  own  account. 
In  the  meantime,  the  families  of  O'Connell  and  Lidwell 
became  greatly  alarmed.  Mrs  O'Connell  gave  information 
to  the  sheriff  privately,  and  had  her  husband  arrested. 
Miss  Lidwill  protected  her  father  in  the  same  way. 

The  following  squib  on  the  subject  was  attributed  to  C 
J.  Burke,  Esq. : — 


448 


PEEL  AND  0' CONN ELL. 


"  Our  heroes  of  Erin  escape  from  the  slaughter, 
By  reversing  the  Hebrew  command, 
One  honours  his  wife,  and  the  other  his  daughter, 
That  their  days  may  be  long  in  the  land." 

Meanwhile  Sir  Charles  Saxton  and  Mr  Peel  had  left  the 
country.  O'Connell  was  hound  to  keep  the  peace,  under  a 
penalty  of  £10,000.  O'Connell,  however,  procured  an- 
other friend,  Mr  Bennet,  and  they  arranged  to  have  a 
meeting  at  Ostend.  Peel  was  mortally  afraid  of  the  result. 
It  was  known  now  that  O'Connell  was  one  of  the  "best 
shots  in  Ireland,  and  the  fate  of  D'Esterre  was  already 
fresh  in  the  public  mind. 

O'Connell  reached  London  safely,  but  every  effort  was 
being  made  to  capture  him.  A  Mr  Lidwill,  who  was  sin- 
gularly like  him,  was  seized.  This  gentleman  was  a  pro- 
vision merchant,  and  occupied  the  house  which  had 
belonged  to  D'Esterre.  In  Calais,  another  unfortunate 
gentleman  was  seized  also. 

Mr  Peel's  father,  however,  had  sharpened  the  wits  of 
the  London  police  by  an  offer  of  fifty  guineas  each  to  those 
who  would  succeed  in  capturing  O'Connell ;  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  19th  September  they  broke  into  the  hotel 
m  the  Strand  at  four  o'clock,  and  captured  him  as  he 
was  preparing  to  start  for  Dover.  O'Connell  was  again 
bound  over  to  keep  the  peace,  and  returned  at  once  to 
Ireland. 

Mr  Lidwill  and  Sir  Charles  Saxton  had  a  meeting  at 
Calais,  where  Mr  Lidwill,  who  had  been  the  challenger. 


PEEL'S  REMEDY  FOR  IRELAND.  443 


received  Sir  Charles  Saxton's  fire,  and  then  discharged  his 
own  pistol  in  the  air. 

In  1819,  O'Connell  wrote  his  first  public  letter  to  the 
people  of  Ireland.  During  the  preceding  year,  the 
country  had  been  in  a  fearful  state  of  distress  and  excite- 
ment. When  the  war  ceased,  the  high  prices  obtained  for 
provisions  fell  at  once,  but  the  Irish  landlords  still  insisted 
on  obtaining  the  high  rents.  The  result  was  necessarily 
disturbance;  but  Mr  Peel  projected  and  perfected  a  plan  by 
which  the  cries  of  the  people  might  be  stifled,  no  matter 
how  great  the  cause  which  drew  them  forth.  "  In  Ireland," 
said  Mr  Peel,  when  he  proposed  his  measure  to  the  English 
house,  "  in  Ireland,  they  do  not  possess  the  greatest  of  all 
blessings — a  resident  gentry  having  a  community  of  in- 
terest with  the  cultivators  of  the  soil."  So,  as  they  had 
not  this  blessing,  he  determined  to  give  one  of  his  own 
fashioning,  and  he  sent  them  25,000  armed  constables. 
In  consequence  of  this  singular  method  of  supplying  an 
acknowledged  want,  and  in  memory  of  the  originator  of  the 
echeme.  these  men  obtained  the  sobriquet  of  "  Peelers." 

There  was  a  trial  about  the  same  period  in  England,  at 
which  eminent  counsel  were  engaged  on  both  sides.  Dis- 
content was  general  in  that  country  also,  though  there 
was  infinitely  less  cause  for  it  than  in  Ireland.  A  Dr 
Watson  excited  a  riot  for  which  he  was  tried.  The 
Attorney- General  and  the  Solicitor-General  were  counsel 
for  the  Crown  ;  the  latter,  Sir  Robert  Gifford,  was  held  in 

2  v 


450 


JUSTICE  IN  ENGLAND. 


very  high  esteem  by  the  legal  gentlemen  of  the  period. 
Watson  was  defended  by  Sir  Charles  Wetherell,  an  ultra 
Tory,  but  he  had  been  disappointed  by  the  Government, 
and,  for  the  nonce,  was  prepared  to  defend  his  client  con 
amove,  and  with  an  energy  beyond  what  mere  professional 
duly  required.  He  was  assisted  by  Mr  Sergeant  Copley, 
better  known  as  Lord  Lyndhurst. 

A  spy  had  been  employed  in  the  case,  but  it  was  proved 
at  the  trial  that  he  was  a  man  of  infamous  character,  as 
such  men  always  are.  Sir  Charles  Wetherell  asked  the 
jury— 

"Will  ycu  suffer  the  purity  of  British  jurisprudence  to  depend 
upon  the  credit  of  that  indescribable  villain  1  Will  you  add  to  the 
bloody  memory  he  has  already  earned  1  Will  you  encourage  the  trade 
and  merchandise  of  a  man  who  lives  on  blood  1  Will  you — the 
guardians  and  protectors  of  British  law — will  you  suffer  death  to  be 
de&lt  out  by  him  as  he  pleases?" 

The  jury  gave  evidence  of  their  opinion  by  acquitting  the 
man  whose  life  had  been  so  cruelly  sworn  away.  It  was 
only  in  Ireland  that  men  like  Mr  Hamilton,  who  were 
at  once  perjurers  and  spies,  were  allowed  to  "deal  out 
death  "  as  they  pleased,  and  where  villains  like  Dyer  and 
his  companions  were  acquitted  by  Orange  juries. 


Cjjaptcr  (Tnitjj. 


LOYALTY  TO  GOD  AND  THE  KINO. 

1820-1822. 

fAHEGYRIO  ON  GRATTAN — OUTKAGE  AT  K1LMAIHHAH — HARCOURT  LEES — "  PAS* 
TOUAL  LETTER  "  FOR  1321— FIRST  APPEARANCE  OF  SUIEL — MR  PLUNKET — 
ANALYSIS  OF  MR  PLUNKET's  BILLS  — SPIRITUAL  FUNCTIONS  AND  FREEDOM 
OF  THE  CLERGY — PROTESTANT  BIGOTRY — GEORGE  IV.  AND  QUEEN  CAROLINK 
— ROYAL  VISIT  TO  IRELAND — LOYAL  RECEPTION  AT  DUBLIN — THE  IRISH 
PEOPLE — PRESENTATION  OF  o'CONNELL  AT  COURT — IRONY  OF  LORD  BYRON 

— WELLESLE*   AND   HIS   IRISH  POLICY  ORANGE  ORGIES — THE  BEEFSTEAK 

CLUB  INTERFERED  WITH,  AND  ITS  REVENGE — WELLESLET  AND  THE  OUANGE* 
MEN— A  CATHOLIC  TRIUMPH. 


j^taD RATTAN  died  in    1820?  and 
Wr    OTonnell    took    the  oppor- 
tunity  of  a  public  meeting  for 
V  v      promoting  the  election  of  his 
son  as  member  for  Dublin,  to 
pronounce  a  magnificent  panegyric  on 
bis  virtue  and  devotion   to    Ireland.  He 
quoted  on  this  occasion  Grattan's  own  mem- 
orable expression,   "  He  watched   by  the 
cradle  of  his  country's  greatness,  and  he 
followed  her  hearse;"  and  then  reverting 
fljjl      to  his  favourite  subject,  the  assistance  given  by 
Protestants,  he  added,  "  Who  shall  now  speak 
to  me  of  religious  animosity  ?     To  any  such  I  will  answer, 


-154 


MEETING  AT  KIL  MA  IN  HA  M. 


by  pointing  to  the  honoured  tomb  of  Grattan,  and  I  will 
say,  There  sleeps  a  man,  a  member  of  the  Protestant  com- 
munity, who  died  in  the  cause  of  his  Catholic  fellow- 
countrymen  !" 

In  the  conclusion  of  his  speech,  he  adverted  to  the  effort 
to  excite  dissension  which  was  made  by  some  of  the  oppo- 
site candidate's  party,  who  boasted  of  wearing  Orange 
favours,  and  asked,  Who  was  the  most  loyal  man,  the  one 
who  would  unite  the  people  round  the  throne  in  peace  and 
harmony,  or  the  one  who  would  weaken  the  resources  of 
the  constitution  by  excluding  their  fellow-subjects  from 
its  advantages  ?  He  concluded  by  begging  the  people  to  do 
their  duty,  and  to  let  their  motto  be,  6i  Grattan  and 
Ireland" 

George  IV.  had  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  this  year, 
and  was  actively  employed  in  the  prosecution  of  his  un- 
happy  Queen.  His  accession  was  made  the  occasion  for  a 
fi  loyal  address"  from  the  Government  party  in  Ireland, 
ana  a  public  assembly  was  convened  for  the  purpose  of 
adopting  it.  The  Court-house  at  Kilmainham,  near 
Dublin,  was  selected  as  the  place  of  meeting,  and  a  guard 
of  fifty  policemen  was  stationed  at  the  door.  As  Lerd 
Howth  and  the  other  promoters  of  the  proceedings  ap» 
pruached  the  spot,  they  were  more  alarmed  than  gratified  to 
see  crowds  hastening  along  the  roads.  But  even  then  they 
were  not  prepared  for  what  followed.  The  moment  the  doors 
were  opened,  the  people  crushed  in,  bearing  all  before  them 


THE  MILITARY  CALLED  IN. 


455 


li"ke  a  raging  sea;  the  police  were  too  few  for  resistance; 
and  in  the  end,  Lord  Howth,  Lord  Frankford,  the  Sheriff, 
the  county  members,  and  Judge  Day,  were  lifted  in  through 
the  open  windows  on  chairs  by  the  police. 

This  proceeding  did  not  tend  to  quiet  the  assembly,  and 
the  speeches  could  not  be  heard  for  shouts,  and  groans,  and 
car-calls,  and  hurricanes  of  ironical  applause. 

O'Connell  and  his  friends  had  placed  themselves  in  the 
centre  of  the  hall.  He  rose  up  in  his  giant  strength,  both 
physical  and  moral,  and  declared  his  dissent.  The  Sheriff' 
asked,  was  he  a  freeholder  ?    He  replied: — 

"  I  am  a  freeholder  of  this  county.  I  have  a  hereditary  property 
which,  probably,  may  stand  a  comparison  with  the  person's  who  in- 
terrogates me  ;  and  I  have  a  profession  which  gives  me  an  annual 
income  greater  than  any  of  the  personages  who  surround  the  chair 
are  able  to  wring  from  the  taxes." 

A  fierce  dispute  followed;  the  aristocratic  party  contrived 
to  nominate  their  own  chairman.  Lord  Cloncurry  now 
joined  the  people,  for  reasons  of  his  own,  and  he  was  nomi- 
nated by  them.  In  the  height  of  the  dispute  the  Sheriff 
contrived  to  slip  out  of  the  court-house  and  to  call  in  the 
military,  whom  he  had  stationed  outside  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  people.  Their  indignation,  when  they 
found  themselves  treated  in  this  fashion,  may  well  be 
imagined.  It  was,  indeed,  a  sharp,  practical  commentary 
on  the  "  liberty  of  the  subject "  in  Ireland.  The  subject 
abhorred  the  conduct  of  the  king,  and  was  only  desirous 


4,06 


NOT  EASILY  BAFFLED. 


of  expressing  his  abhorrence,  if  he  were  obliged  to  speak 
at  all.  The  rulers  of  the  subject  were  determined  to  send 
up  a  congratulatory  address  in  the  name  of  the  subject, 
and  were  naturally  very  indignant  that  he  should  dare  to 
thwart  their  plans. 

The  court  was  soon  cleared.  Lord  Cloncurry  remained 
on  the  bench  where  the  people  had  placed  him.  The 
soldiers,  obeying  orders,  drew  their  swords  at  him,  and 
pressing  forward,  forced  him  from  his  place,  Lord  Clon- 
curry having  determined  that  he  would  yield  only  to 
compulsion. 

But  O'Connell  was  not  so  easily  baffled.  It  was,  in- 
deed, illegal  to  hold  an  open-air  meeting,  but  there  was 
a  tavern  opposite  the  court-house.  O'Connell  placed  the 
chairman  under  cover,  and  the  meeting  proceeded.  Mr 
Burne,  a  king's  counsel,  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
affair  on  the  popular  side.  He  now  addressed  the  multi- 
tude, and  proposed  an  address.  But  he  looked  for  it  in 
vain.  He  plunged  his  hands  into  one  pocket  and  then 
into  another  ;  he  looked  hither  and  thither.  His  address 
was  gone,  lost  in  tbe  fray,  or  dexterously  filched  from 
him.  O'Connell  asked  what  he  was  looking  for.  "The 
address,"  he  stated.  "  What  has  become  of  the  address  ?  " 
"  Oh,  here  it  is,"  replied  O'Connell,  quietly  putting  a 
paper  in  his  hands  which  he  had,  and  which  was  adopted, 
and  which  was  written  by  O'Connell  himself.  There  were 
some  strong  expressions  in  itj  which  had  not  been  in 


SIR  BAHCOURT  LEES.  457 

Burne's  copy;  for  instance,  the  prosecution  of  the  Queen 
was  denounced  as  "  unconstitutional  and  dangerous."' 

History  does  not  say  if  O'Connell  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  abstraction  of  the  original  address,  so  we  may 
leave  him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  On  the  2d  of  July 
1821,  O'Connell  held  another  meeting,  "  to  consider  the 
best  steps  to  be  taken  as  to  the  outrage  on  Saturday  at 
Kilmainham." 

The  Protestant  nristocratic  party  convened  another 
assembly  of  their  own.  An  eccentric  Protestant  clergy- 
man, Sir  Harcourt  Lees,  wrote  a  letter  to  the  public  papers, 
in  which  he  said — 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  one  of  the  most  numerous  and  respect- 
able meetings  of  Protestant  noblemen  and  gentlemen  of  the  county 
of  Dublin  ever  assembled  together,  for  the  purpose  of  assuring  a 
deeply-injured  sovereign  of  their  inviolable  attachment  to  his 
augiiat  person  and  the  constitution  of  the  British  empire." 

But  Sir  Harcourt  was  not  at  the  meeting.  His  appear- 
ance was  remarkable,  and  he  had  been  actually  seen  by  a 
considerable  number  of  persons  in  a  different  place.  He 
took  ihe  accusation  of  falsehood  very  coolly,  and  only  advised 
his  censor  "  to  purchase  a  telescope,  and  watch  his  move- 
ments with  more  attention  in  future." 

O'ConnelTs  "  pastoral  "  letter  for  the  year  of  grace  1821 
excited  an  immense  commotion.  Mr  Shiel  was  just  then 
making  his  appearance  in  public  life,  and  either  from 
personal  vanity,  or  a  desire  to  break  a  lance  with  a  man  so 


458       LET'JER  TO  THE  IRISH  CATHOLICS. 


famous  as  the  Liberator,  he  ventured  the  dangerous  experi- 
ment of  attacking  him.  The  result  was  not  encouraging 
for  a  second  attempt.  Few  men  have  been  possessed  of 
O'Connell's  power  of  dissecting  an  adversary,  and  then 
holding  up  to  public  ridicule,  on  his  scalpel,  the  choicest 
morsels  of  his  opponent's  slaughtered  eloquence, 
O'Connell's  letter  commenced  thus  : — 

To  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 

"  Merrion  Square,  Dublin,  "ist  January  1821. 

"  Fellow-Countrymen, — After  another  year  of  unjust  degrada- 
tion and  oppression,  I  again  address  you.  We  have  lived,  another 
year,  the  victims  of  causeless  injustice.  Our  lives  wear  away,  and  we 
still  continue  aliens  in  our  native  land.  Everything  changes  around 
us.    Our  servitude  alone  is  unaltered  and  permanent. 

"  The  blood  runs  cold,  and  the  heart  withers,  when  we  reflect  on 
the  wanton  prolongation  of  our  sufferings.  The  iron  sinks  into  our 
very  souls  at  the  helpless  and  hopeless  nature  of  our  lot.  To  the 
severest  of  injuries  is  added  the  most  cruel  of  insults,  and  we  are 
deprived  of  the  miserable  consolation  of  thinking  that  our  enemies 
deem  themselves  justified  by  any  necessity  or  any  excuse  for  con- 
tinuing our  degradation. 

"No,  my  fellow-countrymen,  no;  there  is  no  excuse  for  the  in- 
justice that  is  done  us.  There  is  no  palliation  for  the  iniquitous 
system  under  which  we  suffer.  Tt  contradicts  the  first  right  of 
men  and  Christians — the  right  of  worshipping  our  God  according 
to  the  dictates  of  our  conscience.  Nay,  this  odious  system  gee* 
farther;  it  converts  the  exercise  of  that  right  into  a  crime,  and  it 
inflicts  punishment  for  that  which  is  our  first  and  most  sacred  duty 
— to  worship  our  Creator  in  the  sincerity  of  conscience. 

"  For  this  crime,  and  for  this  crime  alone,  we  are  punished  and 
degraded— converted  into  an  inferior  class  in  our  native  land,  and 


O'COXXELL'S  OBJECT. 


459 


doomed  to  perpetual  exclusion.  Our  enemies  cannot  accuse  us  of 
any  other  offence — other  crime  we  have  committed  none.  Even 
the  foolish  charge  of  intemperance — a  charge  which  was  only  a 
symptom  of  that  contempt  in  which  our  enemies  hold  us — even  the 
aljfiiud  accusation  of  intemperance  is  now  abandoned,  and  our  de- 
gradation continues  without  necessity,  without  excuse,  without 
pretence,  without  palliation." 

He  then  showed  them  how  some  M  honest  men  99  might 
be  deluded  into  the  belief  that  the  profession  of  the  Catho- 
lic religion  was  inconsistent  with  civil  or  religions  liberty. 
He  showed  from  the  history  of  the  past,  and  the  annals  of 
the  present,  how  utterly  unfounded  this  theory  was.  Pie 
stated  that  France  had  a  Protestant  prime  minister,  who, 
if  he  were  in  England,  could  not  lill  the  office  of  a  parish 
constable  without  swearing  that  the  mass  was  impious, 
and  he  who  heard  it  an  idolater. 

O'Connell's  object  was  simply  to  keep  his  countrymen 
from  sinking  into  the  apathy  of  indifference  or  despair,  an 
apathy  which  would  have  been  hopelessly  fatal  to  a  people 
who  had  not  yet  obtained  more  than  a  modicum  of  freedom. 
His  reply  to  Sbiel  must  have  produced  laughter  even 
while  it  reiterated  the  arguments  of  the  letter  which  that 
gentleman  had  so  unwisely  attacked.  "  Truly,  I  am  at  a 
toss,"  replied  CTConnell,  "  to  know  how  I  could  have  pro- 
voked the  tragic  wrath  and  noble  ire  of  this  iambic  rhapso- 
dist." 

However  O'Connell  may  have  been  at  a  loss  on  this 
subject,  he  certainly  was  never  at  a  loss  for  a  stinging 


MR  PLUNKET. 


epithet,  and  Mr  Shiel's  rhapsody  had  deserved  one.8  lie 
called  O'Connell  u  a  flaming  fragment,"  "lava,"  u  a  straw 
in  ambre,"  "a  rushlight  with  a  fitful  fire,"  "a  sophist 
drowning  in  confutation,"  "  a  column  of  fiery  vapour  and 
heterogeneous  materials."  Mr  Shiel's  appellations  were 
certainly  "  heterogeneous,"  and  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
how  a  man  who  has  left  so  much  el  aquence  on  record,  could 
have  written  such  rubbish.  O'Connell's  shrewd  conjecture 
that  "  he  was  not  half  so  mad  as  he  pretended  to  be,"  is 
probably  the  key  to  the  enigma. 

The  whole  controversy  arose  out  of  O'Oonnell's  objec- 
tion to  Mr  Plunket's  policy.  After  Grattan's  death,  and 
indeed  for  some  time  previous,  Mr  Plunket  was  looked 
upon  as  the  leader  of  the  Liberal  party  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  or  rather  of  such  members  of  the  Liberal  party 
as  were  disposed  to  grant  any  measure  of  relief  to  Ireland. 
Mr  Plunket  was,  on  the  whole,  a  disinterested  patriot,  but 
he  could  not  understand  the  position  or  the  necessities  of 
those  he  desired  to  benefit,  as  O'Connell  did.  He  was 
anxious  to  obtain  some  measure  of  relief  for  Irish  Catholics, 
or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  for  the  Irish  nation,  for  the 
nation  was  Catholic  ;  but  he  could  not  understand,  and  pro- 
bably no  Protestant  could  understand,  that  the  Irish  nation 
would  accept  no  temporal  relief  however  desirable,  however 

8  Shiel's  famous  speech  in  reply  to  Lord  Lyndhurst's  statement  that 
"the  Irish  were  aliens  in  blood,  in  birth,  and  in  religion,"  was  one  of 
those  chosen  tor  recitation  at  Harrow  on  the  last  speech  day. 


THE  CATHOLIC  AND  HIS  RELIGION.  461 

necessary,  at  the  expense  of  their  spiritual  interests.  Mat- 
ters, which  to  him  were  trifles,  or  at  best  mere  questions  of 
opinion,  were  to  them  of  vital  importance.  He  forgot,  or 
lie  could  not  he  made  to  understand,  that  ever}'  detail  of 
their  religion  was  all  important,  because  with  them  reli- 
gion was  not  a  matter  of  opinion,  but  an  object  of  faith. 

They  believed  that  the  Pope  was  the  divinely-appointed 
Vicar  of  Christ  upon  earth,  that  to  his  authority  they  were 
obliged  to  submit  in  all  things  spiritual,  not  because  he 
happened  to  be  good  or  wise,  gifted  or  powerful,  but 
because  of  an  immutable  decree  which  they  read  in  Holy 
Writ,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  will  I  build 
my  Church. "  For  every  article  of  their  faith  they  had 
been  persecuted  to  death  for  years  ;  they  were  still  per- 
secuted, not,  indeed,  to  death,  but  in  every  position  and 
action  of  life.  It  was  natural,  then,  they  should  look  with 
no  little  suspicion  on  any  concession,  however  desirable, 
to  which  conditions  were  attached,  which,  if  they  did  not 
actually  compromise  articles  of  faith,  had  at  least  the 
appearance  of  doing  so. 

But  there  were  few  men  who  grasped  the  bearings  of  the 
ivholo  subject  with  O'Connell's  precision.  He  saw  the 
insidious  nature  of  the  concession,  which  required  that  the 
appointment  of  Catholic  prelates  should  be  placed  in  Pro- 
testant hands,  and  he  set  himself  to  oppose  it  with  a  vigour 
which  was  strengthened  and  inspired  by  his  perfect  know- 
ledge of  the  danger. 


RELIEF,  BUT  NO  REPEAL. 


0' Conn  ell's  letters  on  this  subject  are  not  less  remark- 
able  for  legal  acumen  than  for  theological  learning.  Ha 
knew  his  religion  with  that  intelligent  knowledge  which  is 
at  once  the  support  and  the  source  of  faith.  It  has  been, 
indeed,  objected  to  him  that  he  was  too  fond  of  theological 
discussions,  but  the  objection  was  rarely  made  save  by  those 
who  were  unable  to  meet  his  arguments. 

These  letters  of  0' Council's  were  written  on  circuit,  and 
forwarded  to  the  Evening  Herald  in  small  portions  as  they 
were  written. 

In  his  first  letter  he  says  :  "Mr  Plunket's  two  bills  are 
at  length  before  you."  He  then  proceeds  to  analyse  the 
bills  with  a  master  hand.  The  first  Act,  he  said,  was  cei 
tainly  a  relief  bill ;  u  if  it  stood  alone  it  would  be  received 
with  delight  by  every  rational  Catholic."  Yet  he  showed  that 
the  Act  was  liable  to  misconstruction,  and  hence  to  failure. 
It  did  not  repeal  the  penal  laws,  although  it  was  proposed 
with  a  view  to  destroying  the  effects  of  these  statutes.  The 
simpler  method  undoubtedly  would  have  been  to  repeal 
them,  but  parliamentary  legislation  is  seldom  characterised 
by  simplicity.  Besides,  there  would  have  been  infinite 
difficulty  in  effecting  such  a  measure.  The  "  moral  con- 
sciousness "  of  that  class  of  men  who  erect  themselves  into 
personal  sources  of  infallibility  in  religious  belief  would 
have  been  shocked.  The  bigots  of  the  day  were  numerous 
and  powerful.  They  complained,  indeed,  bitterly  of  the 
arrogant  claims  of  the  Papacy.    But  they  were  hopelessly 


PROTECTANT  INFALLIBILITY. 


463 


ignorant;  for  there  is  no  ignorance  so  hopeless  as  that 
which  lias  its  source  in  prejudice.  Their  own  infallibility 
was  to  them  so  certain,  that  it  was,  indeed,  the  only  part 
of  their  creed  in  which  they  believed  as  of  Divine  right* 
Yet  if  you  asked  these  men  to  tell  you  the  grounds  on 
which  they  asserted  their  infallibility,  they  could  not  do 
60.  If  you  a^ked  them  why,  in  the  name  of  common 
sense,  they  would  not  permit  the  right  of  private  judgment 
to  their  Catholic  fellow-creatures,  why  they  would  not  allow 
them  the  same  liberty  of  belief  which  they  took  care  to 
secure  for  themselves,  they  could  give  no  rational  answer. 

To  say  that  Popery  was  false  because  they  thought  it 
false,  was  no  argument.  Where  or  from  whom  did  they 
get  the  right  to  decide  so  momentous  a  position?  and  where 
and  from  whom  did  they  get  the  right  to  subject  a  fellow- 
creature  to  any  persecution — social,  moral,  or  physical, 
because  he  did  not  believe  in  their  opinions  ? 

It  would  seem,  indeed,  as  if  persecution  were  the  only 
proof  they  had  to  offer  of  the  truth  of  their  doctrine,  and 
the  very  power  to  persecute  supported  them  in  their  self- 
righteous  delusion. 

But  if  Mr  Plunket's  first  Act  promised  relief,  his  second 
Act  was  such  as  to  prevent  any  Catholic  from  accepting  iL 

O'Connell  analysed  it  thus  : — 

"  Before  I  proceed  to  speak  of  this  second  Act  in  the  terms  it 
merits,  I  will  give  a  brief  and  accurate  statement  of  its  contents ; 
and  I  begin  with  the  title.    It  is  called  an  Act  "  To  regulate  tJie 


464    "SUPPRESSIO   VERL  SUGGESTIO  FALSI." 


intercourse  between  persons  in  holy  orders  professing  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion  with  the  see  of  Rome.3  This  title  is  broken  Eng- 
lish and  bad  grammar.  But  it  is  infinitely  worse.  It  has  all  the 
characteristics  of  complete  falsehood — the  4  suppressio  veri,'  the 
4  suggestio  falsi.'  Truth  is  suppressed,  because  the  principal  object 
of  the  bill  does  not  relate  to  such  intercourse  at  all ;  but  is  to  give 
to  the  secretary  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant  the  absolute  appointment  of 
all  the  bishops  and  all  the  deans  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Ireland. 
Falsehood  is  suggested — because  this  is  not  a  bill  to  regulate  the 
intercourse  (for  regulate  means,  4  to  order  by  rule'),  but  it  is  a  bill 
to  control,  according  to  caprice,  that  intercourse,  and  to  control  it 
according  to  the  caprice  of  a  Protestant  Secretary  of  State.  It  is  in 
this  respect  a  bill  to  suppress  the  necessary  intercourse  upon  matters 
of  faith  and  discipline  between  that  part  of  the  Catholic  or  universal 
Church  of  Christ  which  is  in  Ireland,  and  the  Pope  or  visible  head 
upon  earth  of  that  Church. n 

It  was  no  matter  of  surprise  that  O'Connell  should  write 
strongly  upon  this  subject,  for,  from  the  time  of  Patrick, 
when  Ireland  had  been  converted  by  him  to  the  Faith,  in- 
tercourse with  the  Holy  See  had  been  kept  up  with  unvary-? 
ing  affection.  If  the  intercourse  of  discipline  had  ceased, 
the  intercourse  of  communion  would  have  ceased,  and  Ire- 
land would  have  been  no  longer  Catholic.  To  effect  this 
was  undoubtedly  the  object  of  many  of  the  promoters  of  tha 
bill. 

But  the  oath  which  was  required  from  the  Catholic 
clergy  in  connection  with  this  bill  was  not  its  least  objec- 
tionable feature.  The  language  used  was  ambiguous ;  but 
O'Connell  showed  that  whatever  might  be  said  of  Catholics 
by  their  enemies,  they  at  least  must  keep  an  oath  sacredly. 


THE  OATH  OF  A  CATHOLIC. 


465 


There  could  be  no  mental  reservations,  no  evasions,  no  non- 
natural  interpretation;  the  oath  must  be  taken  in  the  sense 
in  which  the  framers  intended  it  to  be  taken.  No  Catholic 
could  take  an  oath  as  many  Protestants  signed  the  thirty- 
nine  articles  of  their  Church  ;  and  if  a  Catholic  were  guilty 
of  such  evasion,  the  Protestant  who  practised  it  himself 
would  be  the  very  first  to  denounce  him  for  it. 

In  his  third  letter,  O'Connell  shows  that  if  this  bill 
passed,  the  Catholic  clergy  would  be  actually  obliged  to 
derive  their  faculties  from  the  Government.  He  does 
not  use  the  word,  probably  because  he  knew  that  it  would 
not  be  understood  in  its  technical  sense  by  those  whom  he 
addressed,  but  his  argument  goes  to  show  this. 

The  sixteenth  section  of  the  Act  required — 

"That  every  person  who  bhall  hereafter  be  nominated  to 
the  office  of  bishop  or  dean,  in  the  Catholic  Church  in  Ireland, 
/shall,  BEFORE  Jiis  consecration  or  acting  as  such,  give  notice  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  and  that  he  shall  not  be  consecrated 
or  exercise  any  functions  of  bi&hop  or  dean  if  such  Secretary  of  the 
Lord- Lieutenant  shall  inform  him  in  writing  that  he  is  con- 
sidered BY  HIS  MAJESTY'S  GOVERNMENT  TO  BE,  FOR  SOME  REASON 
OF  A  CIVIL  NATURE,  A  PERSON  IMPROPER  FOR  3UCH  OFFICE." 

The  eighteenth  section  made  it  an  indictable  offence  to 
exercise  any  part  of  the  functions  of  a  dean  or  bishop, 
without  having  on  his  nomination  signified  the  same  to 
the  Castle,  or  after  he  has  been  disapproved  of  by  the 
Secretary. 

Many  numbers  of  the  Protestant  Established  Church 

2a 


400        EPISCOPAL  RIGHTS  THREATENED. 


complained  even  then  of  their  bondage  to  the  State,  but  it 
was  a  trifle  to  the  bondage  which  the  State  sought  to  exer- 
cise towards  the  Catholics. 

According  to  the  divinely-appointed  discipline  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  no  man  can  exercise  the  sublime  func- 
tions of  his  office,  even  after  his  ordination,  without  receiv« 
ing  an  express  permission  to  do  so  from  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  in  which  he  wishes  to  exercise  these  functions.  The 
granting  of  this  permission  is  technically  called  giving 
faculties.  A  priest,  by  virtue  of  his  ordination,  has 
always  the  power  to  celebrate  Mass  ;  an  apostate  priest  has 
still  this  power,  even  as  the  apostate  Judas  was  permitted 
to  be  the  means  of  sacrificing  his  Master;  but  no  priest  can 
celebrate  Mass  unless  he  has  permission  or  faculties  from  his 
bishop,  without  being  guilty  of  canonical  irregularity.  And, 
further,  so  strict  are  the  regulations  of  the  Church  in  all 
that  relates  to  her  divine  functions,  that  no  priest  can  say 
Mass  in  any  other  diocese  than  his  own,  without  permission 
from  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  or  in  any  parish  but  his 
own  without  the  further  permission  of  the  parish  priest. 

The  Government  now  desired  to  usurp  this  right,  and 
inflict  pains  and  penalties  on  those  who  dared  to  resist  Its 
usurpation. 

But  there  was  a  yet  further,  and  a  yet  more  grievous 

injustice. 

The  Catholic  priest  cannot  administer  the  sacraments, 
cannot  hear  a  confession  or  give  an  absolution,  without 


TEE  PRIESTLY  OFFICE  THREATENED.  467 


faculties  from  his  ecclesiastical  superiors.  He  lias  the 
power,  by  virtue  of  his  ordination,  but  he  has  not  the  right 
to  exercise  the  power. 

The  life  of  the  Catholic  priest  is  one  long  warfare  with 
t lie  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  He  is  enlisted  a  sol- 
dier of  the  Church  militant,  by  his  ordination,  but  as  a  good 
soldier,  he  must  act  under  orders.  There  can  be  no  con- 
fusion in  the  great  camp  of  God's  army,  and  he  who 
introduces  confusion  does  the  sinner's  work. 

There  is  one  exception,  and  one  only,  in  which  the 
Catholic  priest  may  exercise  his  divinely-given  power  with- 
out special  permission  from  his  divinely-appointed  rulers. 
It  is  in  the  case  of  danger  of  death.  When  the  enemy  of 
bouIs  is  making  his  supreme  effort  to  snatch  his  prey,  the 
6oldier  needs  no  longer  wait  for  permission  to  act.  On  the 
wayside,  in  the  crowded  mart,  on  the  trackless  ocean, 
wherever  there  is  a  human  soul  to  save,  or  help  in  its 
awful  passage  from  time  to  eternity,  there  and  then  the 
Catholic  priest  must  do  his  office,  must  give  the  parting 
soul  all  the  help  the  Church  provides  for  his  perilous 
journej.  This  is  one  of  the  most  sacred  privileges  of  the 
priest,  and  of  this  privilege — nay,  rather  of  this  divine 
right — the  new  act  not  only  deprived  him,  but  threatened 
him  with  cruel  penalties  if  he  exercised  it. 

The  bill  began  with  the  higher  clergy;  had  it  been 
passed,  the  history  of  English  persecution  of  Irish  Catholics 
leaves  no  doubt  that  its  restraints  would  soon  have  descended 


ifi8 


PROTESTANT  BIGOTRY. 


to  the  lower.  The  original  Ye  to  resolution  referred  only  to 
bishops.    Mr  Plunket's  bill  had  descended  to  deans. 

It  was  idle  to  say  that  the  Catholic  sacraments  were 
superstitious,  that  a  Catholic  dean  who  had  not  "  faculties" 
from  Government,  might  let  the  poor  sinner  who  needed 
his  services  die  unshrived  and  unannealed;  the  whole  ques- 
tion resolved  itself  for  the  Catholic  into  one  single  point.; 
he  could  not  sacrifice  that  which  he  believed  to  be  of  divine 
right  for  any  human  consideration  whatsoever. 

With  regard  to  those  who  attempted  to  enforce  on  others 
that  which  thay  would  not  have  submitted  to  themselves 
for  a  single  moment,  it  was  merely  a  n  atter  of  intellectual 
obtuseness  or  unphilosophical  bigotry.  For  a  man  to  stand 
before  his  fellow-men  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  pro- 
claim liberty  of  conscience  to  his  fellow-men,  to  accept  his 
interpretation  of  the  Bible  and  no  other,  is  to  place  him- 
self on  a  throne  of  individual  infallibility ;  for  if  he  be  not 
individually  infallible,  by  what  right  does  he  require  others 
to  submit  to  his  opinions  ?  For  a  man  to  enforce  these 
opinions  by  any  penal  law,  however  trifling,  is  an  act  ot 
the  grossest  injustice. 

Mr  Plunket's  bills  passed  the  Lower  House,  but,  happily 
for  Ireland,  they  were  thrown  out  in  the  Upper  House  upon 
the  second  reading. 

Early  in  July  1821,  it  was  publicly  announced  that  the 
king  would  visit  Ireland,  and  O'Connell  drew  up  a  form  of 
requisition  for  a  Catholic  meeting,  to  consider  an  address. 


THE  QUEEN  REFUSED  CORONATION.  469 


But  the  Catholic  nobiUty  were  entirely  opposed  to  O'Con- 
nell's  plans.  They  were  fearful  of  compromising  their 
position  in  any  way ;  they  had  little  to  gain  by  an  amelio- 
ration of  the  general  position  of  their  religious  brethren, 
and  were  naturally  anxious  to  identify  themselves  as  little 
as  possible  with  a  proscribed  creed. 

George  IV.  was  crowned  on  the  1 9th  of  July  1821.  On 
the  10th  of  July,  the  Privy  Council  had  refused  the  appeal 
of  the  Queen  to  be  crowned  with  him.  With  that  stubborn 
resolution  which  she  displayed  invariably  at  the  wrong 
time,  and  in  the  wrong  fashion,  she  did  her  pitiful  best  to 
obtain  access  to  Westminster  Abbey.  On  the  16fh,  she 
informed  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  as  earl-marshal,  that  she 
intended  to  take  her  place,  and  requested  that  persons 
should  be  in  attendance  to  conduct  her  to  her  seat.  She 
Bent  a  further  message  to  say  that  she  would  be  at  the 
Abbey  by  eight  o'clock;  but  she  was  there  at  six,  the  most 
forlorn  and  wretched  woman  in  all  that  great  city.  Lord 
Hood  was  with  her,  and  a  faithful  friend,  but  she  was  re- 
pulsed at  every  door.  One  or  two  kindly  voices  exclaimed, 
"  The  Queen  for  ever!"  but  the  multitude  hissed  and  cried, 
"Shame,  shame!  go  to  Bergamo!"9  It  was  the  last 
blow,  and  the  death-blow.  She  knew  now  what  her  few 
friends  had  known  for  long  enough,  that  she  would  never 
be  crowned  Queen  of  England. 


»  Twiss's  "  Life  of  Lord  Eldon."  vol.  ii.  p.  48. 


470       THE  KING  SETS  OUT  FOR  IRELAND. 


She  entered  the  carriage  weeping  "bitterly,  and  she  went 
borne  to  die. 

The  King,  in  the  meantime,  had  set  out  for  Ireland.  It 
is  difficult  to  see  what  could  have  been  his  object  in  this 
visit.  It  may  have  been  personal  popularity,  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  George  IV.  had  sufficient  intellect  to  act  on 
any  preconcerted  plan,  even  to  attain  that  end.  He  heard 
of  the  Queen's  danger  with  the  utmost  unconcern  ;  only  he 
had  the  decency  to  delay  his  voyage  to  Ireland,  and  to  ar- 
range that  if  he  should  arrive  there  before  her  death  his 
entry  should  be  private.1 

The  King  landed  at  Howth  on  the  12th  of  August.  He 
occupied  himself  during  the  passage  eating  goose-pie, 
drinking  whisky,  and  singing  songs,  and  on  his  arrival  he 
was  in  the  last  stage  of  intoxication.2  Such  delinquencies 
were,  however,  easily  condoned  in  royalty.  He  was  driven 
to  the  Viceregal  Lodge  in  the  Phoenix  Park,  and  the  city 
gave  way  to  exuberant  loyalty.    It  was  something  to  have 

1  Knighton's  Memoirs,  p.  91. — "  The  King  was  nearly  lost  off'  the 
Land's  End,  in  one  of  the  yachting  expeditions  in  which  he  whiled  away 
the  time.  He  thus  described  his  danger  : — '  The  oldest  and  most  expe- 
rienced sailors  were  petrified  and  paralysed.'  " 

2  "  The  passage  to  Dublin  was  occupied  in  eating  goose-pie  and 
drinking  whisky,  in  which  his  Majesty  partook  most  abundantly,  sing- 
ing many  joyous  songs,  and  being  in  a  state,  on  his  arrival,  to  double  in 
sight  even  the  numbers  of  his  gracious  subjects  assembled  on  the  pier 
to  receive  him.  The  fact  is,  he  was  in  the  last  stage  of  intoxication ; 
however,  they  got  him  to  the  Park."— Letter  from  Mr  Freemantle  ta 
the  Marquis  of  Buckingham— Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  George  IV.,  voL  i 
p.  194. 


THE  ROYAL  PROCESSION. 


471 


a  king  in  Ireland  once  more,  and  a  king  who  bad  come 
with  liberal  promises. 

In  tbe  meantime,  while  all  this  demonstrative  loyalty 
was  being  rendered  in  Ireland,  some  of  the  King's  English 
subjects  were  showing  their  dislike  of  his  neglect  of  the 
decencies  of  life  in  allowing  his  Queen  to  be  buried  in  con- 
tempt. Sir  Robert  Wilson  was  made  the  scapegoat,  and  on 
the  king's  return  he  was  dismissed  from  tbe  army. 

The  king  remained  in  retirement  a  few  days,  and  then 
presented  himself  in  state  to  his  Irish  subjects.  The 
pageant  was  arranged  for  the  17th  of  August,  and  such  a 
pageant,  viewed  from  point  of  numbers  and  enthusiasm, 
was  probably  never  witnessed — Ireland  certainly  had  never 
seen  its  like. 

The  King  went  in  royal  procession  from  one  of  the  finest 
parks  in  the  world  to  the  finest  street  in  the  world.  He 
passed  through  Phibsborough,  then  a  part  of  the  country, 
now  a  continuation  of  Dublin,  through  Eccles  Street, 
and  into  Cavendish  Row,  skirting  Rutland  Square,  and 
entering  at  the  Rotunda.  Here,  at  the  head  of  Sackville 
Street,  a  pleasant  fiction  was  enacted.  A  barrier  of  ever- 
greens was  attached  to  a  wooden  frame,  so  as  to  shut  out 
the  view  of  that  noble  street,  and  a  gate  was  left  in  the  bar- 
rier or  verdant  wall,  where  further  progress  was  denied  his 
Majesty,  until  he  had  obtained  the  freedom  of  the  city  from 
the  Mayor.  After  the  usual  ceremonies,  carried  out  with 
the  utmost  punctilio  and  with  the  most  magnificent  decora* 


472 


A  ROAR  OF  WELCOME. 


tions,  the  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  the  King  permitted 
to  enter. 

The  sight  he  witnessed  was  such  as  had  seldom  gladdened 
monarch's  heart  before.  A  roar  of  triumph  and  welcome 
rose  up  to  the  blue  heaven  above  from  thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  people.  All  the  chivalry,  all  the  passion- 
ate loyalty,  all  the  delicate  courtesy  which  ever  welcomed  a 
stranger — and  which  can  scarcely  refuse  that  welcome  even 
to  an  enemy — had  found  at  last  an  outlet.  They  had  heard, 
indeed,  of  kings  who  ruled  over  them,  of  Williams  and 
Georges,  who  were  said  to  govern  by  the  grace  of  God,  but 
who  were  only  known  to  them  by  acts  which  seemed  to 
savour  a  good  deal  more  of  the  malignity  of  the  devil. 
Here  was  the  King ;  in  person  noble,  in  manner  gracious, 
with  just  that  happy  blending  of  conscious  royalty  with 
what  passed  current  for  the  time  as  affectionate  condescen- 
sion. 

The  air  was  rent  with  acclamations,  and  the  monarch 
enhanced  the  favour  of  his  kingly  presence  a  thousand-fold 
by  clasping  to  his  heart  the  large  bunch  of  shamrocks  which 
he  wore.  1  or  the  time,  probably,  he  was  moved ;  he  could 
not  but  be  moved  by  their  demonstration  of  loyalty.  How 
were  this  trusting  people  to  know  that  the  shamrocks  would 
be  flung  aside  in  a  few  brief  hours  for  a  carouse  with  the 
mistress  who  accompanied  him,  and  with  whom  he  scan- 
dalously kept  company  at  the  Viceregal  Lodge. 

Sackrille  Street  is,  as  we  have  said,  the  finest  street  in 


SCENE  IX  SACKVILLE  STREET. 


473 


the  world.  Its  length,  three-eighths  of  a  mile,  and  its 
breadtli  of  120  feet,  is  only  broken  by  Nelson's  pillar, 
which  faces  the  Post-Office,  a  noble  building.  Its  houses 
are  fairly  regular,  and  of  considerable  height.  Now  the 
multitudes  who  thronged  the  streets  left  only  space  for 
the  passage  of  the  royal  equipage,  in  which  the  King  con- 
tinued standing  as  it  passed  along,  bowing,  with  a  grace 
peculiarly  his  own,  and  pointing  histrionically  to  his  heart 
and  to  his  shamrock.  Every  "  coin  of  vantage  "  was  lite- 
rally occupied.  Even  the  very  capital  which  supported  the 
statue  of  Nelson  on  its  pillar,  which  shoots  up  134  feet 
into  the  air,  had  its  occupants.  The  frontage  of  the  Post- 
Office  was  crowded,  and  gaily-dressed  ladies  thought  them- 
selves happy  to  find  a  place  on  the  architrave  above.  The 
procession  passed  over  Carlisle  Bridge,  and  then  wended 
its  way  through  the  College  Green  and  Dame  Street  to  the 
Castle. 

Even  the  higher  classes  were  affected  by  the  general 
outburst  of  loyalty,  and  very  large  sums  of  money  were 
subscribed  (on  paper)  to  build  a  royal  residence.  It  was 
agreed  that  a  million  of  money  should  be  raised  through 
the  country  for  the  same  purpose  from  the  unhappy  peasan- 
try. Fortunately  for  them,  the  scheme  fell  through  when 
the  King  left  Ireland,  and  when  it  was  found  that  the 
noblemen  who  had  been  so  liberal  of  their  promises  were 
by  no  means  willing  to  carry  them  into  execution. 

O'Conuell  promised  to  contribute  twenty  guineas  a  year 


474 


A  PEOPLE  EASILY  DECEIVED. 


to  the  fund,  but  his  subscription  was  never  required.  On 
the  King's  departure  he  presented  him  with  a  laurel  crown. 
Tt  was  reported  in  the  English  papers  that  the  King  had 
given  O'Connell  his  cap  in  return,  a  statement  which 
O'Connell  indignantly  denied. 

The  King  sailed  away  from  the  Irish  shores,  leaving  after 
him  a  loyal  and  contented,  because  impressionable  nation. 
There  is  not  on  the  earth  a  people  so  easily  deceived  as  the 
Irish,  because  their  natural  bonhommie  leads  them  to  trust, 
and  their  natural  buoyancy  of  character  leads  them  to 
hope. 

How  their  trust  was  betrayed,  and  their  hopes  shattered, 
are  too  well  known  to  need  record  here.  The  King  left 
the  country  a  lecture  on  unity,  and  a  compliment  on  their 
loyalty,  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  from  Lord  Sidmouth  to 
the  Lord-Lieutenant ;  and  so  the  royal  visit  ended.  He 
embarked  at  Dunleary,  a  village  then,  a  town  now,  and 
so  called  from  Laog/iaire,  a  famous  Irish  monarch.  It  has 
since  been  called  Kingstown. 

But  though  the  King  was  obliged  to  receive  the  laurel 
crown  from  O'Connell,  his  hatred  of  the  bold  advocate  of 
Irish  rights  was  unabated.  After  the  Emancipation  Act 
had  passed,  O'Connell  presented  himself  at  a  levee  in 
London.  He  approached  the  royal  presence  with  the  usual 
ceremonies,  but  as  he  saw  "  the  royal  lips  moving,"  he 
advanced,  believing  that  he  was  addressed.  Whatever  the 
King  had  said  was  inaudible,  so  O'Connell  kissed  hands 


0' CON NELL  CURSED  BY  THE  KINO.  475 


and  passed  on.  In  a  few  days  some  curious  reports  ap- 
peared in  the  papers.  It  was  said  the  King  had  used  some 
strong  language,  which  was  not  unusual ;  it  was  said  also 
that  he  had  cursed  some  one  at  the  levee,  which  was  un- 
usual ;  and  more,  that  the  individual  favoured  by  the  royal 
anathema  was  Irish.  O'Connell  met  the  Duke  of  Norfolk 
60011  after,  and  asked  if  he  could  explain  the  newspaper 
reports.  "  Yes,''  he  replied,  "  you  are  the  person  alluded 
to.  The  day  you  were  at  the  levee,  his  Majesty  said,  as 
you  were  approaching,  4  There  is  O'Connell.  G —  d —  the 
scoundrel !  '  "  8 

When  speaking  of  George  IV. 's  visit  to  Ireland,  O1  Con- 
nellys opinion  of  the  royal  visitor  was  by  no  means  compli- 
mentarv.  He  described  him  then  "  as  bein<>-  a  most 
hideous  object ;"  though  in  1 794  i;  he  was  a  remarkably 
handsome,  fine  man,"  and  "  a  very  fine-looking  fellow." 
O'ConueH's  opinion  of  his  appearance  in  1820  may  have 
been  influenced  by  the  fact  that  he  was  humbugged  by 
royalty,  although  he  stoutly  declared  the  contrary.  If 
O'Connell  softened  a  little  in  the  presence  of  royalty,  it 
was  because  he  was  Irish,  and  had  imbibed  the  trusting 
nature  of  the  Celt  with  his  mother's  milk.  It  was  not  to 
his  discredit  that  he  should  have  believed  "  the  greatest 
liar  in  England  "  for  a  time,  when  more  experienced  men 
were  equally  deceived.4 

1  "  Personal  Recollections  of  O'Connell."    By  O'Neil  Daunt. 

4  O'Connell  used  often  to  relate  the  well-known  anecdote  cf  Fox  and 


476 


"THE  GREATEST  LIAR  IN  ENGLAND." 


There  is  no  doubt  that  the  King  was  carried  away  either 
by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people  or  by  his  copious  libations 
of  whisky  during  his  Irish,  visit.5  He  found  himself  in  an 
uncomfortable  position  on  his  return  from  Germany, 
whither  he  had  proceeded  after  his  visit  to  Ireland ;  but 
the  discomfort  was  of  short  continuance,  Irish  opinion  was 
of  too  little  consequence  to  disturb  the  royal  mind. 

Yet  there  were  noble-hearted  men  in  England  even  then 
who  pitied  Irish  degradation,  and,  not  altogether  under- 
standing the  Irish  character,  blamed  the  effervescent 
loyalty  of  the  people.  One  of  the  most  powerful  and  sting- 
ing political  ballads  of  that  or  any  other  age  was  written  on 
this  subject  by  Lord  Byron.    He  had  defended  "  hereditary 

Mrs  Fitzlierbert.  "  I  believe,"  lie  used  to  say,  "  that  there  never  was  a 
greater  scoundrel  than  George  the  Fourth.  To  his  other  evil  qualities 
he  added  a  perfect  disregard  of  truth.  During  his  connection  with  Mrs 
Fitzlierbert,  Charles  James  Fox  dined  with  him  one  day  in  that  lady's 
company.  After  dinner  Mrs  Fitzlierbert  said,  '  By  the  by,  Mr  Fox,  I 
had  almost  forgotten  to  ask  you,  what  you  did  say  about  me  in  the 
House  of  Commons  the  other  night  ?  The  newspapers  misrepresent  so 
very  strangely,  that  one  cannot  depend  on  them.  You  were  made  to 
say,  that  the  Prince  authorised  you  to  deny  his  marriage  with  me !  '— 
The  Prince  made  monitory  grimaces  at  Fox,  and  immediately  said, 
*  Upon  my  honour,  my  dear,  I  never  authorised  him  to  deny  it.' — '  Upon 
my  honour,  sir,  you  did*  said  Fox,  rising  from  the  table  ;  '  I  had 
always  thought  your  father  the  greatest  liar  in  England,  but  now  I  see 
that  you  are.' " 

5  "  The  Duchess  of  Gloucester  went  to  see  him  [the  King]  yesterday. 
.  .  .  He  is  not  so  much  enraptured  with  Ireland  as  she  expected  to  see 
him.  I  believe  he  is  a  little  alarmed  at  the  advances  and  favour  he  has 
Bhown  to  the  Catholics." — Mr  W.  H.  Freemantle  to  the  Marquis  oj 
Buckingham — Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  George  I  V.}  vol.  i.  p.  201. 


LORD  BYROX'S  "AVATAR." 


477 


bondsmen  "  not  only  in  the  heroic  metre  but  in  the  grander 
epic  of  action.  In  his  Avatar  the  keenest  irony  of  al] 
was,  perhaps,  that  contained  in  the  opening  verse: — 

"Ere  the  daughter  of  Brunswick  is  cold  in  her  grave, 
And  her  ashes  still  float  to  their  home  o'er  the  tide, 
Lo  !  George  the  Triumphant  speeds  over  the  wave 
To  the  long-cherished  isle  which  he  loved — like  his  bride." 

Even  O'Connelldid  not  escape  his  scathing  denunciation, 
while  he  certainly  did  not  spare  those  of  his  own  rank. 
He  taunts  O'Connell  with  proclaiming  the  accomplish- 
ments of  the  monarch,  and  asks  Lord  Fingal,  in  allusion  to 
his  being  made  a  Knight  of  St  Patrick — 

"Will  thy  yard  of  blue  ribbon,  poor  Fingal,  recall 

The  fetters  from  millions  of  Catholic  limbs? 
Or  has  it  not  bound  thee  the  fastest  of  all 

The  slaves  who  now  hail  their  betrayer  with  hymns?" 

As  grave  fears  were  now  felt  in  England  of  a  coalition 
between  the  English  Radicals  and  the  Irish  Catholics,  the 
Marquis  of  Wellesley  was  sent  to  Ireland  as  Viceroy  to 
raise  the  hopes  of  the  latter  party.  But  there  was  just 
this  difference  between  the  policy  adopted  towards  the  vast 
majority  of  the  Irish  nation  and  the  few  Orangemen  who 
sought  to  govern  it :  from  time  to  time,  it  was  whispered 
to.  the  nation  that  some  measure  of  justice  was  to  be  dealt 
out  to  it,  but  when  the  time  came  for  doing  the  justice, 
it  was  generally  found  inexpedient.    With  the  Orange 


478  THE  MARQUIS  OF  WELLESLEY. 


party,  there  was  less  talk,  and  a  great  many  grants  of 

even  un  promised  favours.6 

The  Marquis  of  Wellesley,  in  pursuance  of  an  occasional 
policy,  professed  to  come  as  the  friend  of  the  Catholics;  hut, 
in  pursuance  of  the  usual  policy,  acted  as  the  patron  of  the 
Orangemen.  He  got  scant  thanks  for  his  pains,  even  from 
them.  His  marriage  with  a  Catholic  lady  did  not  improve 
his  position  in  their  eyes,  and  the  "  Exports  of  Ireland," 
at  public  dinners,  became  a  favourite  toast,  the  proposers 
having  scarcely  the  decency  to  wait  until  his  Excellency  had 
left  the  banquet-table.7 

At  the  drunken  orgies  usually  held  at  the  decoration 


6  On  the  10th  March  1822,  Mr  Freemantle  wrote  thus  to  the  Duke  ol 
Buckingham  from  the  Board  of  Control  :  "  With  regard  to  Ireland,  I 
am  quite  satisfied  the  great  man  is  holding  the  most  conciliatory  language 
to  all  parties  ;  holding  out  success  to  the  Catholics,  and  a  determination 
to  resist  them  to  the  Protestants." — Memoirs  of  the  Court  of  George  IV.t 
vol.  i.  p.  295. 

It  was  no  wonder  O'Connell  worked  hard  for  repeal  of  the  Union. 

The  Duke  of  Montrose,  in  writing  to  Lord  Eldon  during  the  King's 
visit  to  Dublin,  spoke  of  Ireland  and  its  inhabitants  in  a  fashion  which 
showed  the  utter  ignorance  of  English  statesmen  on  such  subjects.  He 
was  "  surprised  with  the  city  and  its  superior  inhabitants,"  no  doubt 
having  always  believed  the  traditional  Irish  barbarian  theory  ;  but  he 
was  shrewd  enough  to  see,  and  honest  enough  to  express  an  opinion  on, 
the  misfortunes  of  the  country  also.  "  It  certainly  wants  capital  and 
the  residence  of  its  nobility  and  gentry  ;  the  latter  will  secure  the  in- 
crease of  the  former,  and  must,  in  my  opinion,  precede  the  former.  The 
land  appears  to  be  let  too  high,  and  to  be  very  little  manured." — Life  of 
Lord  Chancellor  ttldon,  vol.  ii.  p.  433. 

7  The  Marquis  married  Mrs  Patterson,  an  American  lady,  remarkable 
for  her  beauty,  which  was  enhanced  by  her  fortune  of  ^£100,uo0.  This 


^.V  UXHEARD-OF  OUTRAGE. 


479 


of  King  William's  statue,  the  12th  Lancers  shouted  "To 
hell  with  the  Pope,"  a  miserable  party  cry  not  yet  extinct, 
and  they  supplemented  their  ignorant  blasphemy  with 
a  curse  on  O'Connell,  "the  Pope  in  the  pillory  in  hell, 
and  the  devil  pelting  O'Connell  at  him."  Probably  there 
were  not  ten  men  in  the  whole  rabble  rout  who  had  the  very 
least  idea  what  the  Pope  believed  or  taught. 

The  Beefsteak  Club  held  its  revels  safe  under  the  shadow 
of  respectability.  It  was  originally  a  musical  society,  but 
had  long  ceased  to  promote  harmony  of  any  kind.  At  one 
of  the  carousals  the  obnoxious  toast  was  quaffed.  Three 
officers  of  the  Castle  were  present,  and  all  Dublin  was 
elcci rificd  at  hearing  next  morning  that  they  were  dis- 
missed. The  rage  of  the  Orange  party  was  unbounded. 
They  had  not  been  accustomed  to  interference  in  their 
exhibitions  of  disloyalty.  They  determined  to  have  their 
revenge,  and  they  had  it.  The  Marquis  was  alarmed  at  his 
own  boldness.  To  interfere  with  the  Orange,  or  Protestant 
ascendency  party,  was  an  unheard-of  "  outrage  "  on  the  part 
of  the  Government.  He  had  to  compromise  matters  by 
going  to  dine  with  the  club  uninvited.  Lord  Manners,  the 
Chancellor,  presided.  All  was  conducted  with  due  decorum, 
until  his  Excellency  rose  to  take  his  leave.  He  walked 
through  files  of  Orangemen  to  the  door,  but  he  had  scarcely 


lady  was  the  widow  of  Jerome  Bonaparte,  Napoleon's  brother.  She 
was  a  descendant  of  Carroll  of  Carrolton,  one  of  the  Irish  signers  of  the 
American  Declaration  of  Independence. 


480 


ORANGEISM  RAMPANT, 


reached  it  ere  every  glass  was  filled,  and  before  lie  left,  the 
toast  of  the  "  Exports  of  Ireland  "  was  given  and  drunk  with 
shouts  of  triumph.  It  was  a  lesson  to  the  Marquis  not  to 
interfere  with  Orangemen  again. 

English  statesmen  wrote  to  each  other  confidentially  for 
the  hundredth  time,  that  they  were  assured  "  by  very  intel- 
ligent "  friends  that  "  Ireland  was  in  a  worse  state  than 
ever,"  and  that  nothing  but  "  vigorous  measures  "  would 
save  it.  The  vigorous  measures  were  entirely  limited  to  one 
side — to  the  side  that  could  be  coerced  with  impunity; 
consequently,  the  "  worse  state  than  ever  "  seemed  likely  to 
7>e  still  a  normal  condition  of  Irish  affairs.8  What  could 
be  done  with  those  who  would  not  be  put  down,  who  would 
rule  the  Government,  and  who  had  the  hearty  sympathy  of 
the  whole  English  nation  in  all  their  misdeeds.  If  the 
Marquis  of  Wellesley  had  dared  to  proceed  against  these 
men,  they  would  have  brought  a  storm  about  his  ears  which 
would  have  resulted  in  his  recall.  As  it  was,  because  he  made 
some  little  show  of  justice  to  the  Catholic  party,  he  was 
grossly  insulted  in  the  theatre,  and  his  life  threatened  on 
the  occasion  of  the  famous  "  Bottle  riot,"  at  the  close  of 
the  year  1822.  The  offenders  were  brought  to  the  bar — 
their  guilt  was  clearly  proved.  It  was  one  of  the  fiercest 
and  most  unprovoked  attacks  ever  made  on  Government. 
It  was  the  result  of  a  deep-laid  plot  against  the  Lord- 

8  "  Letter  from  the  Right  Honourable  T.  Grenville  to  the  Marquis  of 
Buckingham — Memoirs  of  George  IV.,"  vol.  ii.  p.  215. 


A   GREAT  CATHOLIC  TRIUMPH.  481 


Lieutenant.  He  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life;  but  the 
offenders  were  Orangemen,  and  they  escaped,  because  no 
jury  could  be  found  to  bring  them  in  guilty. 

At  the  commencement  of  that  year,  a  corporation  dinner 
was  given  at  Morrison's  Hotel,  at  which  the  glorious 
memory  was  drunk,  and  the  proposer,  Sir  Thomas  Whelan, 
hoped  that  the  corporation  u  would  never  forget  that 
great,  that  brave  man,  who  had  made  them  what  they 
were." 

The  compliment  to  the  royal  memory  was  a  doubtful  one. 
If  William  tyrannised,  he  tyrannised  to  win  or  keep  a 
kingdom  ;  but  those  men  were,  each  in  their  way,  petty 
tyrants,  tyrants  who  boasted  of  their  pitiful  il liberality,  and 
gloried  in  their  ignorant  bigotry.  Even  at  this  very  dinner, 
they  declared  that  the  kingdom  would  not  be  "  safe  for  six 
months,"  because  some  little  grace  was  shown  to  their 
Catholic  fellow-subjects.  For  them,  indeed,  there  was  but 
one  kingdom,  their  own  little  body  corporate,  and  but  one 
freedom,  liberty  to  insult  those  who  dared  to  differ  from 
them. 

The  Catholics  obtained  a  great  triumph,  however,  at  this 

period,  by  the  return  of  Mr  White  for  the  county  Dublin. 

He  was  opposed  by  Sir  Compton  Domville,  a  violent  Orange 

partisan.    Both  parties  were  lavish  in  their  bribes,  but 

O'Connell's  eloquence  and  nerve  carried  the  day  for  White. 

He  went  from  chapel  to  chapel  along  the  Dublin  coast,  and 

Bpoke  to  the  freeholders  in  small  parties  with  that  persua- 

2  H 


482 


INDEPENDENT  ELECTORS. 


give  eloquence  which  rarely  failed  of  its  effect.  The  priests 
were,  as  they  have  always  been,  most  earnest  in  support- 
ing the  unhappy  victims  of  landlord  tyranny,  and  Sir 
Compton  learned  for  the  first  time,  with  equal  annoyance 
and  indignation,  that  his  tenants  dared  to  call  their  votes 
then:  owb» 


Chapter  (ElffctntJ. 


CATHOLIC  ASSOCIATION— ITS  FORMATION  AND  DEFENCE, 

1S22-1S27. 

FLOOD    AND   CONNOR — CROSS-EXAMINATION  OF  FLOOD — PLUNKET  AND  HART  — 

FORMATION    OF    CATHOLIC  ASSOCIATION  PRIESTS    AND    PEOPLE    BKOt  GUI 

17TTO  ACTION — FIRST  MEETING  THE  INEXORABLE  PURCELL — THE  PENNY-A 

MONTH  BCHKME  FOR  LIBKUATING  IRELAND — GHAND  AGGREGATE  MEETIHG  

T.  E  00NVER3I01I  MAN i A — THE  PuPE  AND  MAGUIRE  CONTROVERSY — ABORTIVE 
F^CSECUTION  OF  O'CONNELL — THE  DUKE  OF  YORK'S  "  SO-HELP-ME-O-OD  " 
EI  EECU — THE  KING'S  SPEECH  AND  THE  ASSOCIATION — LORDS  LIVERPOOL  AND 
BIO  UGH  AM  —  O'CONNELL  IN  LONDON — LOUDS  PALMERSTON  AND  ELDON — Vna 

Ladies — o'conn ell's  popularity — aims  of  the  association — ANOT*a:a 

CHALLENGE  — SHIEL  QAMXUKk 


HEX  O'Conuell  was  on  cir- 
cuit in  the  Bpring  of  1822, 
a  most  amusing  trial  took 
ql     place   at   Tralee  assizes.. 
The  account,   which  has 
never  before  been  published,  except  in  a 
local  paper,  was  supplied  to  the  present 
writer  by  a  gentleman  who  was  present 
on  the  occasion  and  thoroughly  center* 
Bant  with  all  the  circumstances. 

About  this  time  the  Government  began  to 
take  active  measures  for  the  suppression  of 
illegal  trade.  New  laws  were  made,  heavy  pen- 
alties inflicted,  and,  above  all,  an  active  officer 
was  sent  down  to  assist,  and  look  after  the 
justices  of  the  peace,  some  of  whom  were  more 


486 


AN  ACTOR  SPOILED. 


than  suspected  of  complicity  and  connivance.  The  man's 
name  was  Flood.  He  commenced  life  as  a  lamplighter  in 
the  Crow  Street  Theatre  in  Dublin.  He  was  a  notability 
there,  and  used  to  keep  the  green-room  in  roars  with  his 
recitations,  obtaining  more  money  in  this  way  than  many 
legitimate  wearers  of  the  buskin.  To  his  other  accom- 
plishments he  added  that  of  being  a  most  expert  swimmer, 
and  he  was  given  a  fine  appointment  in  the  revenue  as  a 
reward  for  saving  the  life  of  some  nobleman's  son. 

He  was  active  and  energetic,  and  we  now  find  him  as 
John  Flood,  Esq.,  settled  in  Dingle. 

But  the  man  was  an  actor  spoiled.  Dingle,  to  use  a 
local  expression,  was  "  at  the  back  of  God-speed;"  and 
instead  of  getting  up  a  cutter,  he  got  up  a  theatre.  Flood 
became  at  once  the  most  popular  man  in  Dingle.  Every 
house  was  open  to  him,  and  every  party.  Flays  led  to  sup- 
per-parties, and  Flood,  who  was  supposed  to  hunt  piracy  by 
sea,  turned  pirate  on  land,  if  tradition  does  not  belie  him ; 
and  was  more  than  once  had  up  before  the  "justices"  for 
raids  on  neighbouring  farms,  to  obtain  geese  and  turkeys  for 
his  convivial  meetings.  Ugly  reports  went  up  to  Dublin, 
and  Flood  felt  assured  that  he  must  capture  something 
more  important  than  fowl,  if  he  wished  to  retain  his  situa- 
tion. 

Fortune  favoured  him.  He  seized  a  Dingle  shopkeeper 
named  Connor,  who  had  long  engaged  unmolested  in  illicit 
trade.    He  seized  him  at  midnight,  at  the  head  of  forty 


"COME  BACK,  ALONZOr 


487 


horses,  each  bearing  three  large  sacks  of  tobacco.  Infor- 
mation was  given,  and  special  counsel  sent  down  to  the 
Tralee  assizes  to  prosecute. 

Bat  Connor,  who  held  a  very  respectable  position,  had  a 
great  number  of  friends  in  Tralee.  They  wisely  retained 
O'Connell  for  his  counsel.  His  case  certainly  could  not 
have  looked  worse.  The  man  was  caught  in  the  act,  and 
fourteen  years  was  the  lightest  sentence  he  could  expect. 

Connor's  friends  employed  the  shop  boys  and  others 
to  watch  Flood  for  the  three  or  four  days  preceding  the 
trial.  They  made  him  declaim  for  them,  and  act  for  them, 
and  they  supplied  him  abundantly  with  drink.  They  kept 
him  in  a  state  of  semi-intoxication  ;  and  when  he  came  to 
give  his  evidence  at  the  trial,  he  was,  to  use  the  vernacular, 
more  than  half-seas  over. 

The  evidence  was  simple  enough.  He  had  lain  in 
ambush  for  Connor,  had  seen  him  approaching  with  his  forty 
horses,  had  sprung  out  upon  him  and  seized  him,  but  the 
horses  had  escaped. 

He  was  just  going  down  from  the  witness-box  when  he 
was  recalled  by  O'Connell  for  cross-examination. 

M  Come  back,  Alonzo  !  "  roared  O'Connell. 

O'Connell  knew  Alonzo  well,  every  one  did  in  Dublin, 
and  was  well  informed  of  his  former  career  by  Connor's 
friends. 

The  right  chord  was  touched.  Flood  turned  round  to  the 
place  from  whence  the  rolling  tones  had  proceeded,  exclaim- 


488 


THE  RIGHT  CHORD  TOUCHED. 


ing,  "  Alonzo  the  brave,  and  the  fair  Imogene ! "  in  hia 

best  theatrical  style. 

0' Conn  ell  opened  fire.  There  was  no  fear  of  his  client 
now. 

He  began,  "  And  who  was  your  Imogene  in  Dingle  ?  " 

Flood  shook  his  head  and  made  imploring  gestures. 
It  was  no  use.  When  O'Connell  had  a  victim  in  the  wit- 
ness-box, he  might  resign  himself ;  it  was  useless  to 
struggle.  Flood  was  obliged  to  answer.  He  was  obliged 
to  tell  how  many  Imogenes  he  had  in  Dingle,  how  many 
supper  -  parties  he  had  given,  how  many  parts  he  had 
played,  and  then — how  many  famous  hen-roosts  he  had 
robbed.  At  last  Flood  got  into  a  towering  passion,  and 
abused  O'Connell  bitterly.  So  much  the  better  for  his 
client.  He  puzzled,  bewildered,  cajoled,  and  enraged 
Flood,  until  he  made  him  contradict  his  own  sworn  evi- 
dence twenty  times  over.  He  plied  him  with  quotations 
from  Shakespeare  in  one  breath,  and  then  most  adroitly 
insinuated  a  leading  question.  At  last  Flood  became  so 
excited  that  he  made  a  spring  towards  O'Connell,  exclaim- 
ing, u  My  love,  my  life,  my  Belvidera!  "  Unhappy  man  I 
amidst  the  roaring  laughter  of  jury,  counsel,  and  judge,  he 
fell  between  the  witness-box  and  the  bench,  and  was  taken 
up  half-unconscious,  yet  muttering  threats  of  deadly  ven- 
geance against  his  tormentor. 

Connor  was  acquitted  by  the  jury  after  a  quarter  of  an 
hour's  "  deliberation." 


"VERY  SORB  AT  HEART" 


489 


When  my  informant  reminded  O'Connell  of  the  cir- 
cumstance some  years  later,  at  Darrynane,  he  said  he  had 
completely  forgotten  it.  The  next  day,  however,  he  said 
that  "  Alonzo  "  and  "  Belvidere  "  had  been  haunting  his 
memory  since  the  previous  day,  that  he  distinctly  remem- 
bered the  whole  case,  and  that  it  was  the  greatest  triumph 
he  had  ever  had  in  a  court  of  justice,  not  even  excepting 
that  which  he  had  gained  in  the  Doneraile  conspiracy. 

I  am  indebted  for  the  following  anecdote  to  a  legal 
friend  who  is  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Irish 
bar3:— 

u  When  Lord  Manners  retired  from  the  Chancellorship,  a  great 
part  of  the  public  looked  to  Plunket,  the  Attorney-General, 
then  in  the  zenith  of  his  fame  as  an  orator  and  a  statesman, 
as  the  successor  to  the  high  place.  The  newspapers  announced  and 
the  people  received  it  as  a  fact,  and  the  known  object  of  his  ambi- 
tion seemed  already  in  the  possession  of  the  pre-eminent  labourer. 
English  policy,  however,  or  it  may  be  the  inability  to  spare  such  an 
ally  from  the  House  of  Commons,  stopped  his  promotion  for  the 
time,  and  Sir  Anthony  Hart,  of  the  English  bar,  sat  as  Lord  Chan- 
cellor of  Ireland.  A  brilliant  gathering  of  the  'Long  Kobe'  re- 
ceived the  stranger  on  his  first  sitting  with  the  customary  obeis- 
ance The  disappointed,  if  not  insulted,  Attorney-General  was 
there,  and  Sanrin  and  Goold,  and  Bushe,  and  Wallace  and  Joy ; 
and,  amongst  the  juniors,  Blackburn  and  Shiel ;  but,  greatest  amongst 
the  great,  '  the  observed  of  all  observers/  the  future  Liberator. 
1  How  does  Plunket  look  this  morning,  Dan  V  cries  Shiel  in  a  shrill 
whisper.  '  Very  sore  at  Heart'  responded  Dan,  rolling  his  large  grey 
•ye  towards  the  bench  ;  and  the  timely  hit  ran  round  the  gay  circla 


•  Sergeant  Armstrong. 


490         CATHOLIC  ASSOCIATION  FORMED. 

and  soon  the  buzzing  and  crowded  hall,  adding  to  the  long  roll  of 
the  great  Dan's  hard  yet  pleasant  sayings." 

One  of  the  most  important  undertakings  of  O'Connell's 
life  was  the  formation  of  the  Catholic  Association.  He 
had  formed  the  Catholic  Committee,  which  was  abolished 
by  Government ;  he  had  formed  the  Board,  which  was  also 
abolished  by  Government;  but  as  they  could  not  abolish 
O'Connell,  he  next  formed  the  Catholic  Association.  The 
circular  letter  which,  preceded  the  first  meeting  was  the 
joint  composition  of  O'Connell  and  Shiel.  The  first 
meeting  was  held  at  a  tavern  in  Saekville  Street,  on  the 
28th  of  April  1823.  Lord  Killeen  was  voted  to  the  chair, 
and  O'Connell  made  the  opening  speech ;  in  which  he 
observed  with  great  truth  and  shrewdness  that  "  some  per- 
sons should  take  upon  themselves  the  trouble  of  man  ag- 
in": the  affairs  of  the  Catholics."  Never  had  Catholics 
a  more  competent  leader  than  the  man  who  enunciated 
this  truth. 

But  there  was  yet  more  to  be  done.  A  plan  had  to  be 
formed  which  could  not  be  interfered  with  by  Government. 
Such  an  undertaking  was  one  into  which  the  Liberator  could 
enter  with  a  special  zest.  O'Connell's  plan  was  an  open 
club.  Members  were  admitted  on  payment  of  one  guinea 
per  annum  without  canvass  or  ballot,  on  the  viva  voce 
proposal  of  a  friend.  But  O'Connell  saw  now  that  it  was 
time  to  bring  two  powerful  bodies  into  action,  the  priests 
and  the  people.     Hitherto,  all  Catholic  movements  had 


PRIESTS  AXD  PEOPLE  ORGANISED. 


491 


been  led  and  carried  out  by  the  upper  classes,  and  with  fit- 
ful and  intermitting  help  from  the  aristocracy. 

The  people  who  were  to  become  members  of  this  Asso- 
ciation were  to  pay  one  shilling  a-year.  Poor  as  the  Irish 
peasant  was,  there  were  few  indeed  who  could  not  give  this 
trifling  sum,  and  fewer  still  who  would  refuse  it.  The 
very  fact  of  contributing  to  and  being  a  member  of  such  an 
association  was  an  incalculable  benefit.  He  hoped  for  the 
first  time  to  give  the  lower  cla-s  of  Irish  a  sense  of  power, 
individual  responsibility,  and  of  independence.  They  had 
now  a  personal  interest  in  every  debate  of  the  Association, 
they  now  felt  that  something  was  being  done  for  them,  and 
that  they  need  not  seek  redress  in  the  wild  justice  of 
revenge. 

The  connection  of  the  Catholic  clergy  with  the  Associa- 
tion was  an  arrangement  of  still  greater  importance.  In 
order  to  rule  the  people,  it  was  necessary  that  they  should 
have  leaders.  The  landlords,  with  whom  they  were  con- 
tinually at  feud  who  hated  their  religion  and  too  often 
opposed  them  in  temporal  affairs,  were  not  to  be  thought 
of.  Who,  then,  could  be  chosen  but  the  priest?  And  the 
priest  did  his  work  wisely  and  well.  He  kept  the  people 
united,  he  made  them  strong,  he  gave  them  hope,  they 
learned  from  him,  from  time  to  time,  how  the  great  work 
was  progressing.  Each  individual  knew  that  his  penny 
went  safely  to  the  general  fund,  and  contributed  its  share 
to  the  common  object.    True,  it  was  but  a  drop  in  the 


192        SECRET  OF  0' CONN  ELL'S  SUCCESS. 


ocean,  but  the  ocean  is  formed  of  drops  ;  and  the  Catholia 
rent,  made  up  of  pennies,  became  a  power  in  Ireland  before 
which  English  statesmen  and  cabinets  learned  to  trim  the 
sails  of  their  barque  with  cautious  fear. 

Shiel,  always  cautious,  doubted  if  the  plan  would  suc- 
ceed.1 O'Connell,  always  bold,  said  it  would,  for  he  would 
make  it.  This  was,  indeed,  the  secret  of  O'Connell's  suc- 
cess, as  it  must  ever  be  the  secret  of  all  success.  Yet,  when 
we  look  at  O'Connell,  in  the  zenith  of  his  power  and  his 
popularity,  we  are  too  apt  to  forget  the  difficulties  he  encoun- 
tered in  arriving  at  this  consummation.  It  is  a  common 
saying  that  u  nothing  succeeds  like  success  ;"  but  it  should 
be  remembered  that  success  takes  a  good  deal  of  disap- 
pointment as  well  as  a  great  deal  of  labour, — a  good  deal 
of  discouragement  as  well  as  a  great  deal  of  indomitable 
courage. 

On  the  13th  of  May  1823,  The  Irish  Catholic  Asssocia- 
tion,  as  it  was  now  styled,  met  at  Coyne's,  a  Catholic  book- 
seller, who  lived  at  No.  4  Capel  Street,  and  here  its  future 
meetings  were  held.  A  few  gentlemen  talked  and  doubted. 
O'Connell  talked  too,  but  he  worked.  The  gentlemen  were 
for  petitioning  Parliament  in  well-considered  and  courteous 
language.  O'Connell  came  out  with  statements  of  facts  ag 
to  the  oppression  exercised  on  Catholics  which  no  one  couid 
deny. 


1  "  Memoir  of  O'Connell,"  by  his  Son,  voL  ii.  p.  409, 


"THE  INEXORABLE  P  U  RCELL" 


493 


At  the  meeting  he  showed  how  the  poor  Catholics  in 
jail  were  deprived  of  the  services  of  a  chaplain  even  in  their 
last  moments,  in  consequence  of  the  bigotry  of  the  Dublin 
Grand  Jury.  They  first  appointed  Dr  Murphy  because  they 
knew  he  could  not  attend,  they  next  appointed  a  Spanish 
priest  because  he  neither  knew  English  nor  Irhm  ;  they  then 
selected  a  gentleman  whose  intellect  was  astray ;  and  they 
at  iast  chose  a  parish  priest  in  Limerick,  who  was  "  to  come 
up  by  the  mail  "  when  a  convict  was  to  be  executed. 

The  following  anecdote  is  an  evidence  of  O'ConnelFs 
difficulties,  and  of  his  energy  in  overcoming  them.  It  was 
a  rule  of  the  Association  that,  if  the  members  were  not 
present  at  half-past  three  o'clock,  that  being  the  time 
of  meeting,  an  adjournment  should  take  place.  Purcell 
O'Gorman,  the  secretary,  notified  the  time  with  rigorous 
punctuality.  O'Connell  was  harassed  by  the  irregularity 
of  the  members.  They  wrould  all  promise  to  be  present,  but 
when  the  time  came  the  promise  would  be  broken  or  for- 
gotten. On  the  4th  of  July  1824,  says  Mr  O'Connell's  son, 
"  the  spell  was  broken  "  : — 

"At  twenty-three  minutes  past  three,  on  that  afternoon,  there 
were  but  seven  persons  present,  including  Mr  O'Connell  himself  and 
the  inexorable  Purcell  !  the  latter,  as  usual,  watch  in  hand,  not  in 
the  least  moved  by  the  anxiety  so  plainly  depicted  in  Mr  O'Connell's 
face.  Another  minute,  and  Mr  O'Connell  could  remain  in  the  room 
tio  longer.  He  ran  towards  Coyne's  shop,  down-stairs,  in  the  faint 
hope  of  finding  somebody.  On  the  stairs  the  eighth  man  passed 
hi  in  going  up.  Iu  the  shop  itself  were  fortunately  two  young  Majf 


494 


THE  BUDGET. 


nooth  priests  making  some  purchases.  The  rules  of  the  Association 
admitting  all  clergymen  as  honorary  members  without  special 
motion,  he  eagerly  addressed  and  implored  them  to  come  up  but  for 
one  moment,  and  help  to  make  the  required  quorum.  At  first  they 
refused,  there  being  a  good  deal  of  hesitation  generally  on  the  part 
of  the  clergy  to  put  themselves  at  all  forward  in  politics,  and  these 
young  men  in  particular  having  all  the  timidity  of  their  secluded 
education  about  them.  But  there  was  no  withstanding  him  ;  partly 
by  still  more  earnest  solicitations,  and  partly  by  actual  pushing,  ho 
got  them  towards  the  staircase,  and  upon  it,  and  finally  into  thei 
meeting-room,  exactly  a  second  or  two  before  the  half-hour,  and  so 
stopped  Mr  O'Gorman's  mouth  ;  and  the  required  number  being  thus 
made  up,  the  chair  was  taken."  2 

O'ConnelFs  master-mind  had  grasped  not  only  the  in- 
tellectual but  even  the  financial  arrangements  of  his  new 
plan.  He  calculated  that  by  his  penny-a-month  subscrip- 
tions £50,000  per  annum  would  be  raised.  It  was  a  goodly 
sum,  but  not  more  than  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  lie 
proposed  the  following  division  of  the  amount : — 

For  parliamentary  expenses     ....  £5,000 

For  the  services  of  the  press   ....  15,000 
For  law  proceedings,  in  preserving  the  legal 
privileges  of  the  Catholics,  and  prosecuting 

Orange  aggressors  .....  15,000 
For  the  purpose  of  education  for  the  Catholic  poor  5,000 
For  educating  Catholic  priests  for  the  service  of 

America                                                   •  5,000 

£45,000 

The  parliamentary  expenses  included,  or  rather  involved, 


a  "  Memoir  of  O'Connell,"  by  his  Son,  vol.  ii.  p.  478. 


0' COXy ELL  IN  DIFFICULTY. 


495 


the  residence  of  an  agent  in  London,  who  would  see  to  the 
presentation  of  petitions  and  other  matters  of  equal 
Importance.  For  the  services  of  the  press  the  sum  was 
absolutely  necessary,  since  the  press  was  then  hostile  to 
Catholics  with  the  rarest  exceptions,  and  it  was  of  vital 
importance  that  they  should  have  an  organ  of  their  own. 
O'Connell  had  already  heen  asked  to  assist  in  the  pro- 
viding funds  for  the  education  of  priests  in  America, 
where  the  Irish  were  already  emigrating  in  numbers,  and 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  mighty  empire,  where  they 
might  have  ruled  and  reigned  if  there  had  been  an 
O'Connell  to  govern  them. 

The  principal  difficulty  was  to  collect  this  Catholic  rent; 
but  the  word  difficulty  was  not  in  O'Connell's  dictionary. 
He  said  he  would  collect  in  his  own  parish  himself:  there 
were  few  gentlemen  likely  to  follow  his  example,  but  the 
priests  came  to  the  rescue,  and,  with  their  assistance,  the 
work  was  done.  O'Connell's  plan  was,  of  course,  scouted 
at  first ;  and  even  his  sons  were  taunted  at  their  school 
with  their  father's  "  peuny-a-month  plan  for  liberating 
Ireland." 

A  grand  aggregate  meeting  was  held  on  the  27th  of 
July  1824,  in  Old  Townsend  Street  Chapel,  Sir  Thomas 
Esmonde  in  the  chair.  O'Connell's  speech  was  received 
with  even  more  than  usual  applause,  and  with  a  good  deal 
of  laughter.  He  had  been  sent  an  enormous  package  of 
books,  pamphlets,  and  private  letters  relating  to  the 


496 


AN  OCCASIONAL  PHENOMENON 


Orangemen,  of  which  he  made  effective  and  unsparing  use. 

He  read  extracts  from  these  documents,  which  proved  that 

the  Society  was  a  secret  and  deadly  engine  of  tyranny,  yet 

the  Crown  Solicitor  for  the  county  Donegal  was  Grand 

Master  of  a  Lodge.    One  of  the  resolutions  was  this  : — 

"Itesolved — 'That  any  Orangeman,  who  ever  has,  or  may  here* 
after,  sign  any  petition  in  favour'  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  for 
their  emancipation  be  expelled  from  all  Orange  Lodges,  and  Ids  name 
posted:  " 

From  time  to  time  a  curious  phenomenon  occurs  in  Ire- 
land. Some  few  individuals,  with  more  zeal  than  discretion, 
and  more  bigotry  than  intellect,  make  a  desperate  attempt 
to  "  convert"  the  people  from  the  religion  to  which  they 
have  adhered  with  unfailing  fidelity  for  centuries.3  The 
result  is  always  failure,  except  in  "  famine  years,"  when 
the  unhappy  peasantry  are  sometimes  induced  to  barter 
their  faith  for  bread.  Such  attempts  are  now,  happily, 
comparatively  rare.  Englishmen  are  too  practical  where 
money  is  concerned  to  expend  it  without  a  corresponding 

3  On  the  21st  October  1826,  Lord  Palmerston  wrote  thus  to  the 
Honourable  W.  Temple: — "The  Catholic  and  anti-Catholic  war  iej 
however,  carried  on  more  vigorously  than  ever,  and  the  whole  peoplo 
are  by  their  race  like  a  disciplined  pack  of  hounds."  He  forgot,  how- 
ever, that  he  actually  had  a  share  in  the  hunt  himself,  for  he  says  in  an 
earlier  part  of  the  letter  he  had  "a  great  mind"  to  send  some  "zealous* 
evangelical  from  Cambridge,  then  full  of  Simeon's  great  "  revival,"  to 
work  on  his  estates  in  Ireland.  It  does  not  seem  to  have  ever  occurred 
to  this  intelligent  statesman  that  he  was  anxious  himself  to  do  the  very 
thing  which  he  blamed  others  for  doing,  and  that  he  was  accusing  the 
Irish  of  a  quarrel  which  had  actually  been  forced  on  them.    He  did 


MISDIRECTED  PHILANTHROPY. 


497 


return,  and  have  at  last  discovered  that  the  speculation  in 
Irish  fidelity  to  religion  is  more  loss  than  profit. 

O'Connell,  as  might  be  expected,  was  a  fierce  opponent 
of  all  such  attempts,  and  not  without  cause.  The  conver- 
sion mania  was  rampant  in  the  year  1824,  and  the  famous 
Pope  and  Maguire  controversy  agitated  all  Ireland.  Each 
parry,  of  course,  claimed  the  victory  after  the  public  dis- 
cussion, at  which  O'Connell  assisted ;  but  it  was  said  that 
Mr  Pope  was  more  than  convinced  by  Maguire's  arguments, 
though  lie  continued  to  oppose  them  to  the  last. 

He  sank  into  a  state  of  melancholy,  from  which  neither 
the  vivacity  of  his  Welsh  wife,  nor  the  benefit  of  her  for- 
tune, could  rouse  him.  He  limited  his  theological  efforts 
to  giving  lectures  in  private  houses. 

O'ConnelTs  speech  at  the  public  discussion  was  long  and 
telling.  At  the  conclusion  he  suggested  that  the  gentle- 
men who  were  supporting  the  "  Second  Reformation,"  as 
they  were  pleased  to  call  this  movement,  should  turn  their 

not  consider  at  all  what  the  result  would  be  if  he  had  been  an  Irish 
Catholic,  possessing  some  English  estates  tenanted  by  Protestant-3,  and 
if  he  had  selected  some  zealous  Jesuit  from  Stoneyhurst  College  to  go 
aud  convert  them.  In  the  conclusion  of  his  letter,  he  blames  the 
Orangemen  sharply,  and  spoke  of  their  "orgies"  in  this  town  [London- 
derry] and  Armagh  ;  and  concluded,  "  It  is  strange,  in  this  enlightened 
age  and  enlightened  country,  people  should  be  still  debating  whether 
it  is  wise  to  convert  four  or  five  millions  of  men  from  enemies  to  friends, 
and  whether  it  is  safe  to  give  peace  to  Ireland." — Life  of  Lord  Palmer- 
tion,  vol.  i.  pp.  178,  179.  Yet  he  was  not  "enlightened"  enough  himself 
to  be j  that  he  was  doing  the  very  thing  to  a  certain  degree  that  he  con- 
demned in  others. 

2i 


498 


AN  ABORTIVE  PROSECUTION. 


attention  to  the  Orangemen  in  the  North,  though  he  was  not 
aware  that  even  Lord  Palrnerston  deemed  them  in  need 
of  reformation.  He  made  the  pertinent  observation  that 
the  Catholics  were  charged  with  altering  Scripture,  while, 
in  point  of  fact,  it  was  altered  by  Protestants  ;  and  he  showed 
that  the  divisions  of  Protestants  themselves  on  the  most 
vital  questions  of  doctrine  was  an  evidence  that  some 
authoritative  source  for  definition  was  needed. 

Either  O'Connell's  boldness  or  the  general  hatred  of  the 
Government  towards  him  brought  on  a  prosecution.  On 
the  20th  of  December  he  made  a  speech  in  which  he 
said : — 

"  lie  hoped  that  Ireland  would  never  be  driven  to  the  system 
pursued  by  the  Greeks.  He  trusted  in  God  they  would  never  be  so 
driven.  He  hoped  Ireland  would  be  restored  to  her  rights  ;  but  if 
that  day  should  arrive — if  she  were  driven  mad  by  persecution,  he 
wished  that  a  new  Bolivar  might  arise — that  the  spirit  of  the  Greeks 
and  of  the  South  Americans  might  animate  the  people  of  Ireland  1 1 

For  this  O'Connell  was  indicted,  but  the  grand  jury 
threw  out  the  bill.  The  Dublin  reporters  behaved  nobly, 
one  and  all  refusing  to  give  up  their  notes,  or  to  give  infor- 
mation. The  reporter  of  Saunders*  News  Letter  was  the  only 
exception.  This  gentleman,  however,  was  obliged  to  admit 
on  examination  that  he  was  asleep  when  the  seditious  words 
were  said,  and  the  case  broke  down  for  want  of  proper 
evidence.  It  was  said  that  Mr  Plunket,  the  Attorney- 
General,  was  the  originator  of  the  prosecution,  and  that  he 
was  also  the  suggester  or  the  active  promoter  of  the 


THE  "  SO-HELP-ME-GOD"  SPEECH. 


499 


"  Second  Reformation ;  "  and  it  was  also  said  that  the  bill 
was  thrown  out  to  "  spite  "  Mr  Plunket.4 

O'Connell's  uncle,  old  "  Hunting-Cap,"  died  this  year, 
and  the  Li  Iterator  succeeded  to  his  property,  which  proved 
an  important  addition  to  his  professional  income,  He  was 
nut,  however,  free  from  domestic  care.  Mrs  O'Connell's 
health  was  failing,  and  she  was  taken  to  the  south  of 
France. 

When  the  king's  speech  was  preparing  in  the  opening 
of  1825,  the  "  Irish  difficulty,"  as  usual,  proved  an  obstacle. 
The  king  was  ill,1  at  least  he  said  so ;  he  was  out  of 
temper,  at  least  his  mistress  said  so.  The  cabinet  was 
engaged  on  the  Irish  portion  of  the  speech  daily  for  hours. 
The  anti-Catholics,  with  the  Duke  of  York  at  their  head, 
were  crying  out  in  the  "  so-help-me-God "  style,  which 
has  been  renewed  in  our  own  days.6    The  Burlington  fae- 


4  "  There  is  much  idea  that  the  grand  jury  threw  out  the  bill  to  spite 
Plunket" —  Wynn  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  Memoirs  of  George  IV., 
vol.  ii.  p.  193.  It  certainly  was  not  done  to  favour  O'Connell,  and  it  is 
an  edifying  specimen  of  the  way  "law  "  was  carried  out  in  Ireland. 

5  "  The  king  is  still  in  his  bed,  sulky  and  out  of  humour,  and,  there- 
fore, venting  his  spleen  when  and  where  he  can.  It  all,  however,  origi- 
ns e:  in  the  domestic  concerns.    Lady  is  not  gone  back/'  &c. — 

Memcirs  of  the  Court  of  George  IV.,  vol.  ii.  p.  217. 

6  The  Duke  of  York's  famous  "  so-help-me-God  "  speech  was  made  on 
the  25th  of  April  1825,  in  the  House  of  Lords.  The  anti- Catholic  party 
were  so  cli armed  with  it,  that  it  was  printed  in  gold  letters  like  the 
famous  Durham  letter.  The  whole  speech  was  intended  to  tell,  as 
it  did,  with  a  certain  class,  against  even  the  smallest  concession  to  the 
Catholics.   He  said  in  conclusion  :— "  I  ever  have,  and  ever  shall,  in  any 


600 


THE  KING'S  SPEECH. 


tion  were  for  masterly  inactivity.  The  Irish  Executive 
would  not  urge  the  necessity  of  a  bill  to  put  down  the 
Catholic  Association,  much  as  they  desired  to  do  it,  but 
they  were  quite  willing  to  support  one  if  Government 
would  take  the  odium  of  it.7 

There  were  " innuendoes"  and  "whispers,"  and  "looks;  " 
and  the  Opposition  sincerely  hoped,  and  had  some  ground 
for  suspecting,  that  it  would  all  end  in  a  "  dislocation." 
The  Irish  Attorney- General  Plunket  was  got  over  to 
assist  in  the  deliberation,  and  at  last  the  speech  was 
written.8  Lord  Eldon  said,  indeed,  that  he  "  did  not  ad- 
mire the  composition,  or  the  matter  of  the  speech,"9  though 
he  had  to  read  it  (and  submit  to  it). 

The  king's  speech  first  asserted  that  Ireland  was  pros- 
perous, and  then  opened  out  on  the  Catholic  Association  : — 

"  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Associations  should  exist  in  Ireland 
which  have  adopted  proceedings  irreconcilable  with  the  spirit  of  the 
constitution,  and  calculated,  by  exciting  alarm  and  by  exasperating 
animosity,  to  endanger  the  peace  of  society  and  to  retard  the  course 
of  national  improvement.  His  Majesty  relies  upon  your  wisdom  to 
consider  without  delay  the  means  of  applying  a  remedy  to  this  evil." 


uituation  in  which  I  may  be  placed,  oppose  these  claims  of  the  Roman 
Catholics.    So-help-me-God."    The  Duke  was  certainly  sincere. 

7  "  How  they  will  arrange  the  speech  with  regard  to  Ireland  is  the  real 
difficulty  ;  the  Cabinet,  depend  upon  it,  is  engaged  in  this  question  daily 
for  hours  .  .  .  Your  benches  are  loud  for  doing  nothing." — Letter  from 
\ke  Hon.  W.  Fremantle  to  the  Duke  of  Bucking  I  tarn  j  Memoirs  of  George 
IV.,  vol.  ii.  p.  202. 

8  "  Memoirs  of  George  IV.,"  vol.  ii.  p.  204. 

*  "  Twiss's  Life  of  Lord  Eldon,"  vol.  ii.  p.  534 


A  MASSACRE  IN  PERSPECTIVE. 


601 


The  result  was  a  bill  for  tlie  suppression  of  the  Catholic 
Association,  which  was  brought  in  by  Mr  Goulbourn  on  the 
10th  of  February  1825.  The  Catholics  petitioned  against 
the  bill;  they  explained  the  working  of  the  Association  ;  but 
what  was  the  use  of  explanation  to  those  who  were  deter- 
mined not  to  believe  them.  There  were  men  both  in  and 
out  of  Parliament  who  knew  the  whole  thing  was  a  "  Popish 
plot,"  the  constitution  to  be  subverted  by  it,  the  Protestants 
to  be  massacred.1  Reasoning  with  men  of  this  class  was 
simply  useless,  because  they  were  incapable  of  reasoning. 
If  they  asserted  anything,  that  was  in  itself  a  sufficient 
proof  of  its  truth.  So,  having  asserted  a  falsehood,  they 
reasoned  on  the  falsehood,  and  might  as  well  be  left  to  the 
enjoyment  of  their  own  delusion.  When  they  condescended 
to  give  any  reason  except  their  own  assertion,  it  was  gener- 
ally original,  and  of  about  as  much  value  as  the  assertion. 
They  had  "  heard"  that  one  or  two  Italian  Jesuits2  had  been 

1  Mr  Wynn  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  :— "  Mr  Lewis  de- 
scribes the  local  alarm  as  very  great ;  numbers  of  persons  having  sat 
tip  on  Christinas  Eve  in  Dublin  in  expectation  of  waking  dead  corpses  if 
they  allowed  themselves  to  go  to  sleep.  This  I  heard  also  from  Peel, 
who  describes  the  alarmists  as  doing  incalculable  mischief  by  talking 
before  Catholic  servants  of  the  massacre,"  kc  — Memoirs  of  the  Court  of 
Q&yrge  IV.,  vol.  ii.  p.  193,  This  was  an  old  trick  of  the  Protestant  ascen- 
dancy party.  They  chose  to  suppose  or  invent  a  massacre  in  perspec- 
tive ;  thus  they  excited- the  unhappy  people  by  denouncing  them  to 
Government,  by  arrests  on  suspicion,  and  by  using  the  most  violent 
language  before  them,  and  at  last  they  exasperated  them  into  some 
outrage  which  seemed  to  give  a  colour  of  truth  to  the  prediction. 

1  "  I  am  confident,  as  I  have  long  since  been,  that  the  priests  have  laid 


502       AFFLICTED    WITH  JESUITAPHOBIA. 


seen  in  Dublin,  therefore,  of  course,  there  was  a  Jesuit  plot ; 
and  the  priests  had  preached  on  the  last  judgment,  as  they 
had  always  done  in  Advent  for  centuries  before  Orangemen 
or  Protestants  v\rere  heard  of,  and,  of  course,  they  meant,  not 
what  they  said,  but  that  a  judgment  in  the  form  of  a  mas- 
sacre was  to  come  on  the  Protestants. 

It  is  scarcely  credible  that  rational  beings  could  be  so 
credulous,  and  it  would  be  incredible  if  they  had  not  left 
their  own  credulity  and  folly  on  record. 

These  were  the  class  of  men  with  whom  O'Connell  had  to 
deal.  In  England,  men  like  the  Duke  of  York,  who  called 
God  to  witness  that  they  would  persevere  in  bigotry  to  the 
death;  in  Ireland,  men  like  Mr  Hans  Hamilton,  who 
imagined  they  knew  everything  about  a  religion  which  they 
despised,  and  whose  only  idea  of  making  converts  was  by 
physical  force.3 


a  deep  plot,  and  are  daily  preparing  the  -minds  of  the  people  for  the 
execution  of  it,  which  is  no  less  than  the  extermination  of  the  Protest- 
ants, and  they  have  said  as  much." — Letter  from  Mr  Hans  Hamilton  to 
Lord  Colchester,  Liary  of  Lord  Colchester,  vol.  iii.  p.  450.  Poor  Mr 
Hamilton  suffered  from  Jesuitaphobia.  The  unhappy  man  believed  that 
every  parish  priest  was  a  Jesuit,  but  he  does  not  tell  us  how  he  came 
to  be  so  intimately  acquainted  with  the  councils  of  the  Society.  His 
own  letters  are  a  sufficient  evidence  of  his  folly.  If  the  priests  mid  laid 
a  plot  to  massacre  the  Protestants,  it  is  not  likely  they  would  "  have 
said  as  much  "  to  him  at  anytime.  Persons  affected  with  Jesuitaphobia 
are  generally  terribly  inaccurate  in  their  statements.  They  represent 
the  Jesuits  at  one  time  as  the  most  wise  and  crafty  of  mortals,  and  at 
others  as  fearful  fools. 

3  At  the  close  of  the  year  1824,  Mr  Hamilton  wrote  again  : — "  Your 


THE  OLD  STORY. 


503 


Lord  (then  Mr)  Brougham  undertook  the  defence  of  the 
Association  in  the  House  of  Commons.  The  bill  for  its  sup- 
pression was  brought  in  on  the  night  of  the  18th  February 
1625.  The  House  was  crowded  to  excess.  O'Connell  and 
his  companions,  noble  specimens  of  the  Irish  race,  sat  below 
the  bar  of  the  House.  They  had  hoped  they  might  be  called 
cd  to  plead,  and  O'Connell  had  prepared  a  speech  for  the 
purpose,  which  he  delivered  afterwards  at  a  public  meeting. 

Lord  Liverpool  opened  the  charge  as  Prime  Minister. 
He  accused  the  Association  of  "  evading  and  nullifying  the 
law  of  the  land,"  by  levying  an  unauthorised  tax  upon  the 
Catholic  population  of  Ireland.  He  said,  "If  Catholic 
claims  were  to  be  granted,  they  ought  to  be  granted  on  their 
own  merits,  and  not  to  the  demand  of  such  associations, 
acting  in  such  a  manner."  4 

It  was  the  old  story.  Catholics  had  put  forward  their 
claims  very  often  quietly;  they  were  not  listened  to.  Now 
they  united  to  demand  them,  they  were  not  to  be  granted, 
because  they  did  not  act  submissively,  as  usual,  and  own 
they  were  wrong.  They  should  not  have  acted  at  all  ; 
the  matter  and  the  manner  were  sure  to  offend.  Some 
few  Irish  peers  spoke  out  nobly  for   fair  play.  Lord 

Lordship  has  no  doubt  heard  of  the  arrival  of  some  Italian  priests  in 
Dublin  a  short  time  ago."  In  the  same  letter,  he  says,  in  one  place,  that 
he  hail  discovered  and  disclosed  all  the  plans  of  the  Jesuits,  and  in  an- 
other, that  the  Jesuits  acted  in  such  a  way  as  to  "evade  discovery." — 
Diary  of  Lord  Colchester,  vol.  iii.  p.  356. 
*  u  Life  and  Administration  of  Lord  Liverpool,"  voL  iii  p.  320. 


504   PREJUDICES  REMOVED  ON  BOTH  SIDES. 


Brougham  said  the  Association  was  not  seditious,  and  that 
"  the  Catholic  clergy  had  been  most  active,  and  more  than 
usually  successful,  in  discouraging  sedition  and  tumult." 
Lord  Clifden  said  that  he  was  himself  a  subscriber  to  the 
Association. 

A  month  latei,  when  Lord  Liverpool  moved  the  second 
reading  of  the  bill,  he  poured  forth  a  torrent  of  platitudes 
as  to  what  had  been  already  done  for  Ireland.  According 
to  his  view  of  the  case,  the  Irish  had  been  overwhelmed 
with  benefits,  and  were  the  most  ungrateful  people  in 
existence. 

0' Council's  visit  to  London  brought  him  in  contact  with 
many  of  the  Catholic  nobility,  and  helped  to  remove  some 
prejudices  on  both  sides.  The  English  Catholics  found 
that  O'Connell  did  not  belong  to  the  class  of  individuals 
who  were  then  agitating  in  England ;  and  the  Irish  depu- 
tation received  so  much  unexpected  courtesy,  that  they 
could  not  fail  to  take  kindly  recollections  back  with  them 
to  Ireland.  Even  the  Edinburgh  Revie?v  paid  a  tribute  to  the 
deputation,  probably  because  that  periodical  was  under 
the  influence  of  Brougham.  It  admitted  that  "  no  men 
in  circumstances  so  delicate  had  ever  behaved  with  greater 
temper  and  moderation ;  "  and  more  than  hinted  that  they 
had  been  deceived  as  to  the  subject  of  Catholic  Emanci- 
pation. 

O'Connell  was  examined  before  the  Committee  on  the  9th 
of  March,  and  again  on  the  11th.    Lord  Colchester  has  left 


0' CON X ELL   UXDER  EXAMINATION. 


an  interesting  note  on  this  subject  in  his  diary,  though  his 
description  of  O'Conuell  is  not  very  complimentary.6 

IJc  was  an  object  of  universal  attraction,  and  made  favour- 
able impressions  on  some  of  the  leading  politicians  of  the 
day. 

Shortly  before  leaving  London,  he  attended  a  public 
meeting  at  which  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  presided,  where 
he  spoke  out  in  very  plain  language.  Lord  Colchester 
describes  his  speech  as  "  long  and  furious,"  and  complains 
he  called  Lord  Liverpool  a  "  driveller."  Lord  Palmerston 
had  called  him  a  "  spoony,"  which  was  equally  offensive  ; 
but  as  the  opinion  was  given  in  private  correspondence, 
it  only  proves  that  noble  English  lords  could  use  such  ex- 
pressions as  well  as  Irish  agitators.6  Indeed,  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  low  language  used  in  confidentir.1  communica- 
tions at  that  period.  Party  feeling  rau  high,  and  some 
ladies  even  went  so  far  as  to  keep  their  husbands  at  home 

6  Extract  from  Diary. — "  9th  Irish  Committee. — O'Connell  examined 
for  four  hours  :  confined  himself  to  the  state  of  the  administration  of 
justice,  how  far  satisfactory  or  unsatisfactory,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  jurisdiction,  police  included.  O'Connell  appears  to  be  about 
ifty-three  or  fifty-four  years  of  age,  a  stout-built  man,  with  a  black  wig, 
and  thin  light  coloured  eyebrows,  about  the  middle  stature,  pale  coun- 
tenance anil  grave  features,  blue  eyes,  reflecting  expression  of  counten- 
ance [sic],  his  whole  deportment  affected  respectful  and  gentle,  except 
in  a  lew  answers,  when  he  displayed  a  fierceness  of  tone  and  aspect. 
He  went  to  the  Munster  Circuit  twenty-three  or  twenty-four  years,  but 
now  only  on  special  occasions." — Diary  of  Lord  Colchester,  vol.  iii.  p.  372. 

6  1  can  forgive  old  women  like  the  Chancellor  [Lord  EldonJ,  spoon Lea 
like  Liverpool,  ignoramuses  like  Westmoreland,  stumped-up  old  Tories 


506 


«A  NEW  PRIVATE  TOAST. 


by  force  to  prevent  them  from  voting  on  the  Catholic  ques- 
tion. As  a  reward  for  their  enterprise  they  were  toasted 
daily  as  "  The  ladies  who  locked  up  their  husbands."7 

Lord  Eldon's  opinion  of  O'Connell  at  this  period  is  also 
on  record,  as  wTell  as  Lord  Sidmouth's.  The  observations 
of  these  men  are  of  special  interest.    Lord  Eldon  says  : — 

"On  May  21,  1825,  Mr  O'Connell  pleaded  as  a  barrister  before 
me  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  Thursday.  His  demeanour  was  very 
proper,  but  he  did  not  strike  me  as  shining  so  much  in  argument 
as  might  be  expected  from  a  man  who  has  made  so  much  noise  in 
his  harangues  in  a  seditious  Association." 

Lord  Eldon  evidently  expected  the  "  agitator"  would  not 
conduct  himself  with  propriety  in  a  law  court,  and  was 
surprised  to  find  him  "  proper.'*  O'Connell,  who  hated 
conventional  propriety,  was  out  of  his  element,  and  there- 
fore he  did  not  shine ;  but  notwithstanding  Lord  Eldon'a 
prejudiced  opinion,  there  was  not  a  man  in  England,  or  out 
of,  who  could  surpass  O'Connell  in  arguing  points  of  law. 


like  Bathurst ;  but  how  such  a  man  as  Peel,  liberal,  enlightened,  and 
fresh -minded,  should  find  himself  running  in  such  a  pack,  is  hardly 
intelligible." — LA-e  of  Lord  Palmerston,  vol.  i.  p.  178.  It  was  precisely 
because  Peel  was  neither  liberal  nor  enlightened  when  Irish  ailairs  were 
concerned  that  he  did  run  with  the  pack. 

7  Possibly  it  was  because  Lord  Eldon  was  "  an  old  woman  "  that  he 
especially  notes  the  proceedings  of  these  ladies.  He  says: — "I  forgot 
to  tell  you  yesterday  that  we  have  got  a  new  private  toast.  Lady 
Warrick  and  Lady  Braybrooke  (I  think  that  is  her  name)  would  not  let 
their  husbands  go  to  the  House  to  vote  for  the  Catholics,  so  we  Pro- 
testants drink  daily  as  our  private  toast,  '  The  ladies  who  locked  up 
their  husbands.'  " — Twiss's  Life  of  Lord  Eldon,  vol.  ii.  p.  554. 


POPULAR  ENTHUSIASM. 


507 


In  January  1826,  Lord  Sidmouth  wrote  thus  :— 
"  Dr  Doyle  and  Mr  O'Connell  have  a  lasting  claim  upon  the 
gratitude  of  all  good  Protestants.  They  have  completely  dulcified 
my  feelings  towards  them.  Emancipation  from  poverty,  and  idle- 
ness, and  ignorance,  and  consequently  from  bigotry,  is,  I  am  satis- 
fied, advancing  rapidly  in  Ireland."  8 

O'Connell  returned  to  Ireland  on  the  1st  June  1825,  no 
doubt  heartily  glad  to  be  freed  from  the  restraints  of  Eng- 
lish society,  where  he  could  scarcely  move  or  speak  without 
the  utmost  caution,  so  closely  was  he  watched  on  all  sides. 
Mrs  O'Connell  and  his  daughters  met  him  at  Howth,  which 
was  then  the  landing-place  for  English  packets,  and  he  was 
escorted  to  his  house  in  Merrion  Square  by  an  immense 
and  most  enthusiastic  multitude.  On  his  arrival  he  was 
obliged  to  address  the  people  from  the  balcony  before  they 
could  be  induced  to  disperse.  In  sunshine  and  storm,  in 
summer  and  winter,  by  day,  and  even  at  night,  O'Connell 
stood  on  that  balcony  from  time  to  time,  and,  to  the  no 
small  annoyance  of  his  Protestant  neighbours,  responded 
to  the  calls  of  a  grateful  and  faithful  people. 

An  aggregate  meeting  was  held  in  a  few  da}rs,  and  so 
great  were  the  crowds  who  flocked  to  it  for  admission,  that 
Anne  Street  Chapel,  where  it  was  held,  was  filled  to  over- 
flowing five  hours  before  the  chair  was  taken.  O'Connell 
was  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  the  Association,  a  blue 
frock  with  black  silk  buttons,  black  velvet  collar,  and 


8  "  Diary  of  Lord  Colchester,"  vol.  iii.  p.  408. 


508 


POPULAR  ENTHUSIASM. 


a  gilt  button  on  the  shoulder,  white  vest,  and  white 

trousers. 

Mr  Coppinger  spoke  at  the  meeting,  and  made  a  sharp 
hit  at  the  Duke  of  York,  who,  he  said,  should  have  had 
his  u  clerk"  to  say  amen  to  his  so -help -me- God  speech. 
The  renowned  Jack  Lawless  was  also  present,  and 
attempted  to  censure  O'Connell  for  his  conduct  towards 
the  forty-shilling  freeholders,  whom  he  had  sacrificed  for 
the  Relief  Bill;  but  he  was  soon  silenced.  O'Connell  took 
care  to  avoid  the  subject.  His  popularity  certainly  was 
not  lessened  by  it  in  Dublin,  for  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
meeting,  the  horses  were  taken  from  his  carriage,  and  he 
was  drawn  in  triumph  to  his  house.  Such  scenes,  now  of 
frequent  occurrence,  must  have  been  extremely  offensive 
to  the  Government,  yet  they  might  have  learned  a  lesson 
from  them.  It  only  needed  a  man  to  show  an  honest 
interest  in  the  poor  and  the  oppressed  to  receive  in  return 
their  life-long  gratitude. 

A  new  Catholic  Association  was  now  formed,  and  in  the 
formation,  O'Connell  contrived,  with  his  usual  discretion, 
to  keep  himself  within  the  bounds  of  law.  It  was,  indeed, 
no  easy  matter  to  suppress  a  man,  whose  resources  seemed 
to  be  infinite,  and  who,  as  soon  as  he  was  hunted  from  one 
form,  started  up  in  another. 

The  first  purpose  of  the  new  Catholic  Association  was  to 
promote  public  and  private  peace ;  the  second,  to  encour- 
age education  ;  the  third,  to  ascertain  the  number  of  the 


A   GRATIFICATION  OF  LITTLE  MINDS.  509 


Catholic  population  ;  the  fourth,  to  erect  Catholic  churches 
and  protect  the  poor;  the  fifth,  to  promote  science  and 
agriculture  ;  the  sixth,  to  encourage  literature  ;  the  seventh, 
to  refute  the  charges  made  against  Catholics.  It  was  in- 
deed a  noble  and  exhaustive  programme,  and  truly  worthy 
of  the  enlightened  mind  which  originated  it. 

It  has  been  one  of  the  misfortunes  of  Ireland  that  those 
who  have  worked  for  her  most  faithfully,  most  earnestly, 
and  from  the  very  purest  motives,  have  been  always 
thwarted  in  their  plans  by  some  of  their  own  nation.  It 
is  impossible  to  account  for  this  strange  and  sorrowful 
phase  in  the  Irish  character,  but  it  is  none  the  less  true. 
It  may  be,  it  probably  is,  the  remains  of  that  evil  spirit 
which  was  introduced  and  fostered  carefully  by  English 
statesmen,  who,  acting  on  the  divide  et  imp  era  system,  left 
no  effort  unused  to  disunite  Irishmen.  Let  us  hope  that 
this  national  disgrace  will  pass  away  in  time,  and  that 
Irishmen  will  learn  the  folly  and  the  reproach  of  divi- 
sion. 

0' Council's  conduct  towards  the  forty-shilling  free- 
holders was  made  the  ground  for  a  dastardly  attack  on 
his  character,  by  men  who  were  neither  able  nor  willing  to 
do  one  tithe  of  what  he  had  done  for  Ireland.  It  was  just 
possible  for  them  to  snarl,  terrier-fashion,  at  the  noble 
lion  who  defended  the  sheep  from  the  wolf.  It  is  always 
a  gratification  to  little  minds  to  throw  contempt  on  those 
Whose  intellect  is  far  beyond  their  reach;  and  they  have 


510  OF  UNFAILING  GOOD  HUMOUR. 

not  sufficient  intelligence  to  see  that,  though  they  may 
have  the  gratification  of  annoying  a  nobler  mind  for  a  time, 
the  real  disgrace  is  their  own  ;  and  their  names  have  only 
to  be  known  that  they  may  be  held  up  to  posterity  to  meet 
the  contempt  they  merit. 

A  "private  public"  meeting  was  held  to  denounce 
O'Connell,  and  O'Connell,  like  a  man,  presented  himself  at 
it,  and  defended  his  own  policy  as  far  as  it  was  defensible, 
while  he  was  too  much  a  man  not  to  admit  that  he  might 
have  been  mistaken.  One  thing  at  least  was  certain : 
through  reproach,  or  contempt,  or  the  powerful  opposi- 
tion of  men  who  should  have  rallied  round  him,  he 
was  resolved  to  stand  up  for  Ireland.  He  could  not 
but  know  that  he  had  served  her  as  no  man  had  ever 
served  her  yet.  That  bon/wmmie,  which  was  his  greatest 
charm,  never  forsook  him,  and  he  concluded  his  speech 
on  this  occasion  with  that  happy  mixture  of  earnestness 
and  fun  which  never  failed  to  tell  with  quick-witted  Celtic 
audiences : — 

"  I  now  call  upon  and  conjure  gentlemen  to  bury  animosity  and 
captious  irascibility,  and  to  join  with  me  in  fighting  the  common 
enemy.  I  can  only  say  that  if  the  entire  country  were  to  turn 
against  me,  I  would  not,  like  Scipio,  go  to  lay  my  bones  in  foreign 
earth,  but  I  would  go  to  the  aggregate  meeting  on  Wednesday  to 
reproach  them  by  exerting  myself  to  serve  them,  if  possible,  twenty 
times  more.  (Laughter  and  applause.)  1  am  happy  to  be  able  to 
tell  you  that  I  have  the  report  already  prepared  •  it  will  probably 
pass  in  the  committee  to-day,  and  will  be  presented  at  the  aggregate 


RECEPTION  AT  WEXFORD. 


511 


meeting  on  Wednesday — where  we  shall  all  meet,  I  hope,  with  no 
other  ohject  than  the  success  of  our  common  cause — no  other  view 
than  the  interests  of  the  people." 

When  O'Connell  went  on  circuit  now,  he  only  went 
"  special."  His  dexterity  in  cross-examination  made  him 
a  forlorn  hope,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  his  professional 
duty  required  him  to  shield  the  guilty  much  more  fre- 
quently than  to  defend  the  innocent.  One  of  these  cases 
occurred  in  the  county  Cork,  where  a  father,  brother,  and 
son  named  Franks  were  murdered  for  arms,  according  to  one 
account,  and  to  prevent  the  marriage  of  the  latter,  accord- 
ing to  another.  A  maid-servant  had  escaped  by  hiding 
herself  under  a  table,  and  one  of  the  party  turned  informer  ; 
but  O'Connell  so  bewildered  them  in  cross-examination, 
that  they  contradicted  themselves  and  each  other  hope- 
lessly, and  the  result  was  an  acquittal  of  the  prisoners. 

Wherever  O'Connell  went,  he  was  received  with  accla- 
mation, surrounded  by  an  exultant  multitude.  At  Wex- 
ford, when  he  went  special,  he  was  met  by  a  fleet  of 
boats,  and  obliged  to  take  his  place  in  a  barge  gaily  deco- 
rated ;  the  rowers  were  dressed  in  green  and  gold.  After 
b  xhor  cruise,  lie  was  landed  at  the  bridge,  and  entertained 
in  the  evening  at  a  public  dinner. 

Ar  the  close  of  the  year  1825,  O'Connell  was  challenged 
by  Mr  Leyne,  a  Kerry  barrister.  O'Connell  had  forsworn 
duelling,  and  his  son  Maurice  took  up  the  affair.  Mr  Leyne, 
however,  refused  to  meet  him,  but  John  and  Maurice 


512 


FERTILE  IN  RESOURCES. 


O'Connell  prosecuted  the  affair  with  vigour.  The  result 
was,  that  O'Connell  had  both  his  sons  arrested  and  bound 
over  to  keep  the  peace.9 

O'Connell  acted  with  his  usual  prudence  in  the  forma 
tion  of  the  new  Catholic  Association.  He  passed  by  the 
u  under  growl"  of  Jack  Lawless,  estimating  it  just  for 
what  it  was  worth  ;  but  lie  excluded  the  Honourable  Mr 
Bellew,  because  that  gentleman  was  known  to  receive  a 
large  pension  from  Government,  for  which  no  reason  could 
be  assigned.  A  committee  of  deliberation  sat  for  fourteen 
days,  and  consisted  of  the  following  gentlemen : — 
O'Connell,  Shiel,  Sir  Thomas  Esmonde,  Michael  Bellew, 
Hugh  O'Connor,  the  Hon.  Mr  Preston,  the  O'Connor  Don, 
Lord  Gormanston,  Lord  Killeen,  Sir  J.  Burke,  Captain 
Bryan,  N.  Mahon,  W.  Murphy,  H.  Lambert;  S.  Coppinger, 
C.  M.  Laughlin,  M.  O'Brien,  the  Hon.  G.  Ffrench,  J. 
Baggot,  and  P.  Fogarty.  The  Catholics  under  the  new 
Act  could  only  meet  for  fourteen  days  at  a  time,  but 
O'Connell's  genius  made  this  a  help  rather  than  a  hin- 
drance. He  made  it  a  reason  for  encouraging  larger  assem- 
blies, and  for  convening  assemblies  in  the  different  pro- 

9  Through  the  kindness  of  friends,  we  Lave  been  obliged  by  some 
private  correspondence  on  the  subject.  On  the8tli  December,  MrLeyne 
wrote,  "  The  matter  is  now  pretty  well  tranquillised,  but  I  understand 
it  is  positively  rumoured  amongst  friends  that  Maurice,  under  no  cir- 
cumstances belonging  to  this  transaction,  was  either  to  receive  from 
or  send  a  message  to  any  of  his  sons."  The  family  considered  Mi 
O'Connell  had  been  "  guilty  of  a  gross  insult." 


THE  CATHOLIC  FIFTY-FOURTH. 


513 


vinces  and  counties  of  Ireland  at  which  both  Protestants 
and  Catholics  assisted. 

The  first  great  meeting  was  held  on  the  16th  of  July 
1826.  TLe  deliberation  continued  for  fourteen  days.  In 
the  course  of  proceedings,  the  Rev.  Mr  L'Estrange,  O'Con- 
neirs  chaplain,  stated  that  when  a  mutiny  broke  out  in 
Gibraltar,  only  one  regiment  out  of  seven  remained  faith- 
ful, and  that  was  the  Catholic  Fifty-fourth.  The  men 
saved  the  life  of  the  Governor,  and  preserved  Gibraltar  to 
England.  During  the  war,  the  47th  and  87th  regiments, 
which  were  entirely  Catholic,  were  opposed  at  one  time  to 
ten  thousand  men  and  defeated  them.1 

The  year  1827  was  remarkable  for  political  changes. 
Shiel  made  one  of  his  telling  speeches  at  an  aggregate 
meeting,  in  which  he  said  : — 

"  Peel  is  out— Bathurst  is  out— Westmoreland  is  out— Welling- 
ton,  tke  bad  Iriskinan  (lie  was  once  a  p.ige  in  the  Castle,  and  ac- 
quired the  kabit  of  thinking  as  dependant  as  a  lady  lieutenant  s 
gown),  is  out — and,  thanks  be  to  God,  the  hoary  champion  of  every 
abuse — the  venerable  supporter  of  corruption  in  all  its  forms,  tbe 
pious  antagonist  of  every  generous  sentiment — Eldon,  procrasti- 
nating, canting,  griping,  whining,  weeping,  ejaculating,  protesting, 
money -getting  and  money-keeping  Eldon,  is  out.    This,  after  all,  is 


1  O'Connell  had  a  quarrel  with  the  Dublin  papers  about  this  period, 
for  not  reporting  him  fully.  The  Morning  Register  very  quietly  retorted, 
that  as  O'Connell  uttered  two  hundred  words  in  one  minute,  and  some- 
times spoke  three  hours  at  a  time,  it  was  scarcely  possible.  We  believe 
CPConiieirs  feats  of  language  are  exceeded  by  Mr  Butt,  who  is  said  to 
Utter  three  hundred  words  in  a  minute. 

2  K 


514 


CANNING  IN  POWER. 


Bometbing.  We  have  got  rid  of  that  candid  gentleman,  who  for  an 
abridgement  of  the  decalogue  would  abridge  Ireland  of  her  liberties. 
We  have  got  rid  of  the  gaoler  who  presided  over  the  captivity  of 
Napoleon,  and  was  so  well  qualified  to  design  what  Sir  Hudson 
Lowe  was  so  eminently  calculated  to  execute.  We  have  got  rid  of 
that  authoritative  soldier  who  has  proved  himself  as  thankless  to 
his  sovereign  as  he  has  been  ungrateful  to  his  country,  and  who  has 
been  put  to  the  right-about-left :  and  better  than  all — better  than 
the  presumption  of  Wellington,  the  narrow-heartedness  of  Bathurst, 
the  arrogance  of  Westmoreland,  the  ostentatious  manliness  and  elabo- 
rate honesty  of  Mr  Peel — we  have  got  rid  of  Lord  Eldon's  tears." 

The  reins  of  government  were  now  in  the  hands  of  Can- 
ning, a  man  of  singular  ability  and  power.  His  party 
had  held  an  important  position  under  Lord  Liverpool's 
administration,  and  Lord  Palmerston  had  sided  with  this 
party,  and,  as  far  as  he  had  political  power,  he  had  resisted 
the  illiberal  faction  headed  by  Lord  Eldon.2  Lord  Angle- 
sea  was  sent  to  Ireland,  for  the  king,  who  was  by  no  means 
in  a  quiet  frame  of  mind,  said,  "  he  must  have  a  Protestant 
Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland."8 

2  Lord  Palmerston  said  that  George  IV.  "  personally  hated  "  him. 
He  certainly  tried  to  get  rid  of  him  by  offering  him  the  government 
of  Jamaica.  —Life  of  Lord  Palmerston,  vol.  i.  p.  183. 

3  "  Diary  of  Lord  Colchester,"  vol.  iii.  p.  487.  In  all  the  political  cor- 
respondence of  this  period,  those  who  favoured  the  Catholics  were  called 
Catholics,  and  the  rest  Protestants.  It  is  at  first  puzzling  to  read  of 
men  being  called  Catholics  for  such  a  reason. 


O'CONXELL  AXD  THE  CATHOLIC  HIERARCHY. 
1S27-1S15. 

commencement  or  correspondence  with  dr  machale — PRIESTLY  co-opera. 

TION — A  NEW  ERA — SKETCH  OF  DR  MACHALE's  LIFE — SKETCH  OF  DR  DOYLE'S 
LIFE — HI8  "VINDICATION  OF  CATHOLICS" — DR  DOTLE  AND  THE  LORDS*  COM- 
MITTEE—  HONEST  JACK  LAWLESS — HENEY  GKATTAN — MR  O'GORMAN  MAHON 
— SCENE  IN  THE  "  HOUSE  " — STEELE — MR  BARRETT — MB  BAT. 


-  J  

^?\)t  the  close  of  the  year  1827, 


n/jy  O'Connell  made  the  most  en- 
ergetic and  active  prepara- 
tions for  mass  meetings  of 
the  entire  people  of  Ireland, 
and  at  this  period  lie  commenced 
the  long  and  affectionate  correspondence  with 
the  Right  Rev.  Dr  MacHale,  which  ended 
only  with  his  life.  These  letters  form  a  most 
important,  illustration  of  the  latter  period  of 
O'CV.nneirs  career,  as  we  have  in  his  own  words 
his  own  opinions.  He  might  he  obliged  at  times 
to  conceal  his  real  motives  from  the  public,  hut, 
in  reading  his  correspondence  with  his  chosen 
friend  and  his  most  valued  adviser,  we  have 
the  very  secrets  of  his  heart. 


518 


FIRST  LETTER   TO  DR  MACHALE. 


The  first  letter  of  this  important  correspondence  is  dated 
at  the  close  of  this  year : — 

"  Merkion  Square,  Zlst  December  1827. 

"My  Lord,  —  The  public  papers  will  have  already  informed  your 
Lordship  of  the  resolution  to  hold  a  meeting  for  petition  in  every 
parish  in  Ireland,  on  Monday,  13th  of  January. 

"  I  should  not  presume  to  call  your  Lordship's  particular  atten- 
tion to  this  measure,  or  respectfully  to  solicit  your  countenance  and 
support  in  your  diocese,  if  I  was  not  most  deeply  convinced  of  its 
extreme  importance  and  utility.  The  combination  of  national 
action,  all  Catholic  Ireland  acting  as  one  man,  must  necessarily 
have  a  powerful  effect  on  the  minds  of  the  Ministry  and  of  the  entire 
British  nation  ;  a  people  who  can  be  thus  brought  to  act  together, 
and  by  one  impulse,  are  too  powerful  to  be  neglected,  and  too  for- 
midable to  be  long  opposed. 

"  Convinced,  deeply,  firmly  convinced .of  the  importance  of  this 
measure,  I  am  equally  so  of  the  impossibility  of  succeeding  unless 
we  obtain  the  countenance  and  support  of  the  Catholic  prelates 
of  Ireland.  To  you,  my  Lord,  I  very  respectfully  appeal  for  that 
support.  I  hope  and  respectfully  trust  that  in  your  diocese  no 
paiish  will  be  found  deficient  in  activity  and  zeal. 

"  I  intend  to  publish  in  the  papers  the  form  of  a  petition  for 
Emancipation,  which  "may  be  adopted  in  all  places  where  no  indi- 
vidual may  be  found  able  and  willing  to  prepare  a  proper  draft. 

"  L  am  sorry  to  trespass  thus  on  your  Lordship's  most  valuable 
time,  but  I  am  so  entirely  persuaded  of  he  vital  utility  of  the 
measure  of  simultaneous  meeting  to  petition,  that  I  venture,  over 
again,  but  in  the  most  respectful  manner,  to  urge  on  your  kind  and 
considerate  attention  the  propriety  of  assisting  in  such  manner  as 
you  may  deem  best  to  attain  our  object. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  my  Lord,  your 
Lordship's  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"To  the  Right  Rev.  Dr  MacIIale." 


THE  CLERGY  IN  HARNESS, 


519 


O'Connell  was  well  aware  of  the  value  of  clerical  co- 
operation, and  no  man  ever  desired  it  more.  His  plan 
succeeded  to  admiration  ;  simultaneous  meetings  were  held 
in  every  part  of  Ireland  at  the  same  day  and  hour;  and  at 
the  same  time  more  effective  arrangements  were  made  for 
Catholic  association.  Churchwardens  were  appointed,  one 
by  the  priest  and  the  other  by  the  parishioners,  to  collect 
the  rent,  to  watch  the  landlords,  to  protect  the  tenants  from 
prose!  vti<m  and  from  coercion  in  voting.  Such  organisa- 
tion was  never  attempted  before  in  any  nationality,  and  yet 
it  was  carried  out  to  a  degree  of  perfection  worthy  of  the 
master-mind  which  originated  and  worked  it  out. 

Mr  Canning's  unexpected  death  dissolved  his  Cabinet. 
Lord  Goderich  came  into  office,  and  went  out  of  it,  "  nobody 
knew  how  and  nobody  knew  why."  On  the  22d  January 
1828,  the  Wellington  Ministry  was  formed.4  In  four 
months  the  Cabinet  was  rearranged  in  consequence  of  the 
disfranchisement  of  an  English  borough.  The  result  was 
indeed  momentous  for  Ireland.  Mr  Vesey  Fitzgerald  ob- 
tained a  place,  and  consequently  was  obliged  to  vacate  his 
seat  for  the  county  Clare.  The  omission  of  one  word  in  the 
Act  of  Parliament  enabled  a  Catholic  to  be  elected,  though 
it  did  not  permit  him  to  take  his  seat.  We  all  know  the 
result;  but  before  we  enter  into  details  of  that  event,  which 
an   English   statesman,  who  even  at  the  moment  had 

*  «  The  king  would  not  have  Sir  Robert  Pee],  to  whose  1  bowing '  h« 
had  serious  objections." — Diary  of  Lord  Colchester,  vol.  iii.  p.  539. 


520 


DR  MAChALE. 


resigned  his  office,  has  described  as  "  a  new  era  in  the  history 
of  Ireland"  we  shall  say  a  few  words  of  the  men  with 
whom  0'  Conn  ell  worked,  or,  to  put  it  more  correctly,  who 
worked  with  0'  Conn  ell. 

And  first — because  first  in  Irish  affection,  and  because 
the  long  and  hitherto  unknown  correspondence  which  we 
now  publish  shows  that  he  was  first  in  0' Council's  confi- 
dence— we  must  name  the  Eev.  Dr  MacHale,  the  present 
Archbishop  of  Tuam. 

This  distinguished  prelate  was  born  in  1791  at  Tubber- 
navine,  a  village  in  the  county  Mayo.  He  belongs  to  an 
old  and  honourable  family,  who  trace  their  pedigree  back 
for  many  generations ;  but  as  they  preferred  heavenly  to 
earthly  wealth,  they  sacrificed  their  temporal  possessions  for 
conscience'  sake.5  Even  if  his  Grace  were  not  distinguished 
as  a  theologian,  a  poet,  and  a  man  of  letters,  the  Irish 
hearts  of  his  people  would  cling  to  him  fondly  because 
of  his  fidelity. 

His  early  education  was  given  to  him  at  Castlebar,  as 
best  it  could  be  when  penal  laws  made  knowledge  forbidden 

5  The  Archbishop  of  Tuam  is  directly  descended  from  Bishop 
MacCaile,  who  received  the  profession  of  St  Bridget.  His  family  lived 
for  centuries  in  the  valley  where  Amalgaid,  then  king  of  that  country, 
met  St  Patrick,  and  near  the  wood  of  Fochut. — (See  Life  of  St  Patrick, 
by  the  Author  of  the  Illustrated  History  of  Ireland,  p.  526.) 

A  considerable  number  of  Dr  MacHale's  relatives  on  both  sides  of  hia 
family  have  been  priests.  The  Very  Rev.  U.  Burke,  of  St  Jarleth'a 
College,  is  his  nephew,  and  is  well-known  as  a  scholar  and  writer  on 
Celtic  literature. 


DR  MAC  HALE. 


521 


fruit.    His  vocation  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  ecclesi- 
astical state  manifested  itself  early,  and  he  entered  the 
College  of  Maynooth,  where,  after  his  ordination,  he  held 
the  professorial  chair  of  dogmatic  theology  for  eleven  years. 
The  importance  of  this  office  can  only  be  fully  understood 
by  Catholics,  who  know  that  their  Church,  and  their  Church 
alone,  has  a  creed  which  it  is  heresy  to  deny,  and  which 
must  be  taught  by  all  its  priests,  wherever  scattered 
throughout  the  world,  with  harmony  of  expression.  Being 
divine,  it  cannot  vary,  for  with  the  Eternal  Truth  there  is 
no  changeableness.    But  as  it  must  be  taught  by  fallible 
mortals  to  others  equally  fallible,  it  is  necessary  that  there 
should  be  an  infallible  authority  to  define  even  those  deli- 
cate lines  of  expression  which  divide  trnth  from  error. 
Such  i>  the  province  of  the  professor  of  dogmatic  theology. 
He  teaches  to  his  students  what  they  must  teach  to  others 
in  their  turn,  he  having  been  taught  himself  by  that 
Church  founded  by  Christ,  and  taught  not  only  what  it 
should  do,  but  what  it  should  believe.    The  Divine  injunc- 
tion was  to  go  forth  and  teach  all  nations,  not  to  dispute 
which  of  two  opinions  might  be  the  more  correct,  but  zu 
teach  "  whatsoever  v  they  were  "  commanded."  6 

6  As  many  educated  Protestants  are  not  only  ignorant  of  Catholic 
doctrine,  but  in  many  cases,  from  education  or  prejudice,  are  grievously 
misinformed,  it  may  be  well  to  observe—  First,  That  we  see  in  the 
Epistles  h  >w  exactly  the  Apostles  carried  out  the  Divine  instructions 
on  this  subject  They  taught  a  certain  definite  doctrine,  and  those  who 
did  not  believe  or  accept  that  testimony  were  considered  and  treated  as 


622 


DR  MACE  ALE. 


While  at  Maynooth,  Dr  MacHale  was  named  Coadjutor 
Bishop  of  his  native  diocese,  Killala,  cum  jure  successions, 
and  consecrated  with  the  title  of  Mononia  in  partibus.  lie 
published  a  series  of  letters  while  at  Maynooth  on  the 
Bible  Societies,  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland,  and 
Catholic  Emancipation,  under  the  signature  of  Hierophilus. 
In  1827,  he  published  a  work  "  On  the  Evidence  and 
Doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church,"  which  is  so  highly 
esteemed  that  it  has  been  translated  into  both  French  and 
German. 

During  the  Melbourne  Administration,  the  well-known 
series  of  his  letters  appeared  signed  John  Archbishop  of 
Tuam.  Like  many  distinguished  Irish  prelates,  Dr  MacHale 
was  selected  to  preach  the  Lent  at  Rome  during  the  spring 
of  1832  His  lectures  attracted  so  much  attention  that 
they  were  translated  into  Italian  by  the  Abbate  de  Lucia, 
who  has  since  been  raised  to  the  purple.  Nor  has  Dr 
MacHale  forgotten  his  native  tongue.  The  melodies  of 
Moore  have  been  translated  into  Irish  by  his  facile  and 

heretics,  Obviously  if  there  were  no  definite  rule  of  faith,  there  would 
be  no  harmony,  and  if  variation  of  opinion  were  allowed  on  any  one  poini 
of  doctrine,  the  faith  would  be  no  longer  one.  "Sects  of  perdition" 
are  especially  condemned  in  Holy  Writ  (2  Peter  ii.  1).  Secondly,  The 
Church  has  power  to  decide  controversies  on  matters  of  faith,  and 
exercised  this  power  from  the  very  commencement  (Acts  xv.  7).  There 
may  be  "much  disputing"  on  any  subject  until  the  voice  of  Divine 
authority  has  spoken.  Once  it  has  spoken,  there  can  be  none.  Obvi- 
ously the  Church  would  be  of  no  use  as  a  teacher,  unless  she  had  poweJ 
to  define  what  should,  and  what  should  not  be  believed. 


DR  DO  TIE. 


523 


gifted  pen.  and  part  of  the  Iliad  of  Homer ;  but,  true  to  his 
exalted  calling,  he  has  not  forgotten  the  poetry  of  Truth, 
and  lie  baa  commenced  the  translation  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture into  hi*  native  tongue.7 

Dr  MacHale's  work  was  done  quietly.  He  was  a  tower 
of  strength  to  O'Connell.  His  dignified  defence  when 
attacked  by  a  petulant  judge  shows  that  he  is  still  a 
tower  of  strength  to  Ireland.  He  stands  yet,  majestic  and 
still  as  the  grand  old  mountains  of  his  native  Conne- 
mara,  ruling  his  flock  in  wisdom  and  power,  and  heeding 
but  little  the  angry  assaults  of  those  who  cannot  reach  his 
altitude. 

The  Right  Rev.  Dr  Doyle,  though  less  a  personal  friend 
of  O'Connell,  devoted  himself  publicly  to  the  cause  of  Ire- 
land and  religion,  and  by  his  pen  as  well  as  by  his  bearing 


*  In  the  year  1851,  Mr  Keogh,  in  his  speech  at  the  banquet  given  to 
him  by  his  constituents  in  Athlone,  spoke  thus  of  Dr  MacHale  : — <;  I  see 
here  the  venerable  prelates  of  my  Church,  first  amongst  them—'  the 
observed  of  all  observers' — the  illustrious  Archbishop  cf  Tuam,  who, 
like  that  lofty  tower  which  rises  upon  the  banks  of  the  yellow  Tiber, 
the  pride  and  protection  of  the  city,  is  at  once  the  glory  and  the  guardian, 
lUc  decus  ct  tutamen.  of  the  Catholic  religion."  His  reversal  of  this 
compliment  in  the  year  1872  is  amusing,  and,  as  a  matter  of  contem- 
porary history,  deserves  to  be  placed  on  record  : — "  His  Lordship  then 
dw.-H  on  the  meeting  in  detail,  observing  with  regard  to  the  term 
1  Great  Prelate  of  the  West,'  applied  to  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam.  de- 
nouncing the  epithet  as  fulsome  flattery.  For  his  part,  he  had  often 
considered  whether  he  would  not  rather  prefer  to  be  well  abused  than 
lalsomely  flattered,  whether  it  would  not  be  more  offensive  to  have  the 
Blaver  of  the  tongue  or  the  venom  of  the  teeth." 


524 


DR  DOYLE. 


when  under  cross-examination  before  parliamentary  com- 
mittees, did  no  little  service.  He  was  born  at  New  Iloss, 
in  the  county  Wexford,  in  1786,  and  was  educated  at 
Coimbra  in  Portugal.  He  was  a  man  of  more  fervour  than 
quickness  of  thought,  and  of  an  ascetic  habit  of  mind.  The 
terrible  events  of  the  rebellion  of  1 798  were  vividly  im- 
pressed in  his  memory,  as  he  was  then  for  some  hours  in 
personal  danger.  He  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Kildare  and 
Leighton  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two,  and  his  devotion 
to  the  affairs  of  his  diocese,  from  the  care  of  the  very 
poorest  of  his  people  to  the  supervision  of  his  clergy,  was 
beyond  all  praise.  He  first  appeared  as  a  public  writer 
when  replying  to  an  offensive  charge  delivered  by  the  Pro- 
testant Archbishop  of  Dublin,  Dr  Magee.  His  letter  elec- 
trified the  Protestant  party,  and  Catholics  pointed  to  it  with 
no  little  pride,  as  one  of  many  evidences  of  the  ability  of 
their  prelates.  His  style  was  singularly  pure,  and  while 
entirely  free  from  anything  like  invective,  was  none  the 
less  truculent.  He  has  been  paid  the  doubtful  compli- 
ment of  late  years  of  not  being  "  Ultramontane," 8  yet 
there  never  was  a  man  more  deeply  and  truly  devoted  to 
his  Church.    The  following  passage,  which  we  extract  from 

8  A  writer  in  the  Standard  of  August  17, 1872,  describing  the  pictures 
hi  the.  Dublin  Exhibition,  says : — "  Next  hangs  J.  K.  L.,?  [this  was  the 
nom  de  plume  adopted  by  Dr  Doyle],  "  who  was  too  ranch  of  a  scholar 
and  a  statesmen  to  countenance,  had  he  lived,  the  Ultramontane  tactica 
of  the  present  da}7-  in  Ireland.  Many  thousand  Eoman  Catholic  Irish- 
men sigh  for  the  days  of  the  Dr  Doyle  whom  this  picture  vividly  recalls/' 


DR  DOYLE'S  "VINDICATION.9 


525 


his  Vindication  of  Catholics,  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
Marquis  of  Welleslcy,  must  have  made  a  deep  impression 
ou  any  mind  not  hopelessly  prejudiced  : — 

11  It  was  the  creed,  my  Lord,  of  a  Charlemagne  and  of  a  St  Louis, 
of  an  Alfred  and  an  Edward,  of  the  monarchs  of  the  feudal  times, 
as  well  as  of  the  emperors  of  Greece  and  Koine;  it  was  believed  at 
Venice  and  at  Genoa,  in  Lucca,  and  the  Helvetic  nations  in  the  days 
of  their  freedom  and  greatness  ;  all  the  barons  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
all  the  free  cities  of  later  times,  professed  the  religion  we  now  pro- 
fess. You  well  know,  my  Lord,  that  the  charter  of  British  freedom 
and  the  common  law  of  England  have  their  origin  and  source  in 
Catholic  times.  Who  framed  the  free  constitutions  of  the  Spanish 
Goths  ?  Who  preserved  science  and  literature  during  the  long  night 
of  the  Middle  Ages?  Who  imported  literature  from  Constantinople, 
and  opened  for  her  an  asylum  at  Rome,  Florence.  Padua,  Paris,  and 
Oxford  ?  Who  polished  Europe  by  art,  and  refined  her  by  legisla- 
tion ?  Who  discovered  the  New  World,  and  opened  a  passage  to 
another?  Who  were  the  masters  of  architecture,  of  painting,  and 
of  music]  Who  invented  the  compass  and  the  art  of  printing] 
Who  were  the  poets,  the  historians,  the  jurists,  the  men  of  deep 
research  and  profound  literature  ]  Who  have  exalted  human  nature, 
and  m  ule  man  appear  again  little  less  than  the  angels  ?  Were  they 
not,  almost  exclusively,  the  professors  of  our  creed?  Were  they, 
wh«>  created  and  possessed  freedom  under  every  shape  and  form, 
fcnfit  for  her  enjoyment?  Were  men,  deemed  even  now  the  lights 
of  the  world  and  the  benefactors  of  the  human  race,  the  deluded 
victims  of  a  slavish  superstition?    But  what  is  there  in  our  creed 

The  writer  of  this  paragraph  probably  never  read  the  "  Life  of  Dr 
Doyle."  If  he  had  done  so,  he  would  never  have  committed  himself  to 
the  absard  assertion  that  any  Irish  Catholic  "  sighs "  for  the  days  of 
penal  laws,  tithes,  and  Orange  ascendancy.  O'Connell's  portrait  in  the 
same  Exhibition  is  amusingly  described  with  a  small  sarcasm  as  "  show- 
ing him  as  he  was,  big,  burly,  theatrical,  and  overbearing. ■ 


526 


DR  DOYLE   UNDER  EXAMINATION. 


which  renders  us  unfit  for  freedom  ?  Is  it  the  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience?  No;  for  the  obedience  we  yield  to  authority  is  not 
blind,  but  reasonable.  Our  religion  does  not  create  despotism  ;  it 
supports  every  established  constitution  which  is  not  opposed  to  the 
laws  of  nature,  unless  it  be  altered  by  those  who  are  entitled  to 
change  it.  In  Poland,  it  supported  an  elective  monarch  ;  in  France, 
an  hereditary  sovereign ;  in  Spain,  an  absolute  or  constitutional 
king,  indifferently  ;  in  England,  when  the  houses  of  York  and  Lan- 
caster contended,  it  declared  that  he  who  was  king  de  facto,  was 
entitled  to  the  obedience  of  the  people.  During  the  reign  of  the 
Tiidors,  there  was  a  faithful  adherence  of  the  Catholics  to  their 
prince,  under  trials  the  most  severe  and  galling,  because  the  consti- 
tution required  it.  The  same  was  exhibited  by  them  to  the  ungrate- 
ful race  of  Stuarts.  But,  since  the  expulsion  of  James  (foolishly 
called  an  abdication),  have  they  not  adopted,  with  the  nation  at 
large,  the  doctrine  of  the  Revolution — 'that  the  crown  is  held  in 
trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  ;  and  that,  should  the  monarch 
violate  his  compact,  the  subject  is  freed  from  the  bond  of  his  allegi- 
ance V  Has  there  been  any  form  of  government  ever  devised  by 
man,  to  which  the  religion  of  Catholics  has  not  been  accommodated? 
Is  there  any  obligation,  either  to  a  prince  or  to  a  constitution,  which 
it  does  not  enforce  ? " 

Dr  Doyle  was  examined  before  a  parliamentary  com- 
mittee in  1825.  His  examiners  were  under  the  impres- 
sion that  they  knew  far  more  about  the  Catholic  religion 
than  he  did,  and  their  principal  object  was  to  try  and  en- 
trap him  into  some  admission9  which  would  be  hostile  to 

•  Dr  Doyle  was  asked  the  most  absurd  questions.  If  any  of  his  exa- 
miners had  taken  the  trouble  to  procure  a  Catholic  Catechism  from  the 
poorest  Irish  girl  in  London,  and  had  then  studied  it  honestly,  they 
would  have  obtained  all  the  information  they  desired.  The  difficulty 
waa  simply  this  :  These  members  of  Parliament,  some  of  whom  cer- 


DR  BOYLE  UNDER  EXAMINATION. 


the  religion  for  which  he  would  have  given  his  life.  Such 
ignorance  ifi  pitiable,  and,  unfortunately,  even  in  the  pre- 
sent day  is  not  uncommon.  To  the  educated  Catholic,  pre- 
late or  gentleman,  it  would  be  simply  amusing  if  it  did  not 
involve  such  serious  consequences.  Dr  Doyle  was  very 
indignant.  When  a  statue  of  this  prelate  was  exhibited  in 
Dublin,  Lord  Anglesea  went  to  see  it  with  a  large  party 
of  gentlemen.  One  of  the  number  observed  that  he 
had  never  seen  Dr  Doyle  in  that  remarkable  position.  The 
Marquis  replied,  "  I  remember  it  well.  When  he  was 
giving  evidence  before  a  committee  in  the  Lords,  a  peer 
put  a  question  to  him  about  Catholic  teaching.  He  flung 
up  his  arm  just  in  that  empathic  manner  and  exclaimed, 

tainiy  were  honest-hearted  and  honourable  men,  had  been  educated  in 
a  system  naturally  and  necessarily  framed  on  the  belief  that  Popery 
was  founded  on  lies  and  corruption,  else  why  would  the  "  glorious  Re- 
formation "  have  been  necessary  ?  Men  who  did  not  believe  in  the 
"immortal  memory r  of  the  usurper  William,  or  who  cared  very  little 
about  it.  Relieved  this.  Their  mothers  had  taught  it  to  them,  their 
fathers  had  acted  upon  it.  Why,  then,  should  it  not  be  true  ?  Catholics 
indignantly  deny  their  theory.  They  were  too  honest  themselves  to 
disbelieve  their  Catholic  fellow-subjects  altogether,  yet  they  were  too 
prejudiced  to  alter  their  own  preconceived  imaginary  theory.  The 
result  M  as  hopeless  confusion.  They  tried  to  get  the  Catholics  to  make 
admissions  which  would  fall  in  with  their  theory ;  but  the  Catholics 
would  not  make  them,  because  their  theory  was  false.  They  asked  a 
dozen  questions  on  one  subject,  and  got  a  dozen  clear  answers,  and  yet 
they  were  not  content,  simply  because  they  would  not  give  up  their 
preconceived  theory.  Lord  Carbery  wrote  in  despair  on  the  subject  to 
Lord  Colchester.  They  had  examined  and  re-examined  Dr  Doyle  on  the 
subject  of  Confession,  the  whole  theology  of  which,  dogmatic  and  moral, 
wa*  disposed  of  in  haif-a-dozan  questions  and  answers  in  the  Catechism, 


528 


MR  S II I  EL. 


i  I  did  not  think  there  was  a  Protestant  peer  so  ignorant 

as  to  ask  that  question.'  " 

During  Dr  Doyle's  examination,  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
left  the  room  for  a  few  moments  in  order  to  examine  some 
parliamentary  document.  "  Well,  Duke,"  exclaimed  a  peer, 
who  happened  to  be  entering  the  committee  room  at  the 
time,  "are  you  examining  Dr  Doyle?"  "  No,"  replied 
the  Dake  drily,  "but  Doyle  is  examining  us." 

Shiel  was  O'Connell's  most  active  coadjutor  in  the 
early  part  of  his  career.  He  was  born  near  Waterford,  on 
16th  of  August  1791,  and  after  spending  some  years  with 
the  Jesuits  at  Stoneyhurst,  ended  his  academic  career  in 
Trinity  College,  Dublin,  a  circumstance  which  may  perhaps 
account  for  his  opposition  to  O'Connell  on  the  Veto 
question.    In  1823  he  again  joined  with  O'Connell,  as 


which  they  had  not  read,  and  which,  if  they  had,  they  would  not  be- 
lieve. Nothing  could  he  done  with  such  men,  either  in  the  early  or  the 
latter  part  of  the  19th  century,  except  to  leave  them  to  their  ignorance. 
Lord  Carbery  was  sure  that  "  the  Confessional  was  the  source  of  all  the 
barbarous  and  bloody  scenes  which  disgraced  Ireland."  He  had  indeed 
learned  from  Dr  Doyle  that  a  Catholic  could  not  receive  absolution 
unless  he  was  truly  penitent,  that  being  all  that  God  required  ;  but  Loid 
Carbery  and  other  Protestant  noblemen  required  a  great  deal  more 
from  the  Irish  peasant.  The  priest  was  to  act  as  spy,  informer,  police- 
man, and  at  least  moral  executioner.  He  was  not  to  give  absolution  to 
the  penitent  unless  the  penitent  gave  himself  up  to  human  justice. 
Lord  Carbery  knew  very  little  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  or  he 
would  have  remembered  the  example  of  Him  who  said  to  the  peni- 
tent, u  Go,  and  sin  no  more,"  and  who  did  not  require  her  or  any  of  thosj 
whom  He  forgave  to  make  public  confession  of  their  crimes. 


MR  SHIEL. 


529 


already  related.  Mr  North  said  of  him,  that  he  had  erred 
in  the  choice  of  a  profession,  and  that  if  he  had  cultivated 
the  drama  instead  of  law,  he  would  have  equalled  Shake- 
speare. His  physique  was  anything  but  attractive;  he  was 
small  of  stature,  careless  as  to  personal  appearance;  his 
voice  was  shrill,  but  his  bursts  of  eloquence  thrilled  to 
the  very  souls  of  his  audience.  His  complexion  was 
dark,  and  his  hair  fair  and  unkempt.  Yet  this  man 
had  a  soul  that  poured  itself  forth  in  such  torrents  of 
eloquence  as  are  rarely  heard,  and  a  magnetic  power  which 
kept  his  hearers  spell-bound  and  entranced.  He  generally 
entered  the  Association  when  the  business  was  nearly 
elided,  and  while  O'Connell  was  speaking.  There  was  not 
much  difference  in  their  age,  yet  the  great  master  spoke 
of  him  as  "  his  eloquent  young  friend,  whose  power  and 
genius  were  unequalled  by  the  orators  of  Greece  and  Rome 
in  the  days  of  their  brightest  glory." 

He  always  dressed  in  black,  with  white  neckcloth,  and 
he  always  wore  black  kid  gloves.  When  at  the  close  of 
some  thrilling  and  truly  terrible  outburst,  he  would  draw  off 
one  glove,  and  stretch  forth  his  white  delicate  hand  to 
heaven,  as  if  calling  down  vengeance  on  the  oppressors  of 
his  race.  His  finest  speech  was  that  already  mentioned, 
when  he  replied  to  Lord  Lyndhurst's  unwise  onslaught  on 
the  Irish  nation,  and  asked,  "  Where  was  Arthur  Duka  of 
Wellington  when  these  words  were  uttered  ?  Breathlessly 
he  should  have  started  up  to  disclaim  them — 

2t 


520 


AN  "ENRAGED  PROPHET.1* 


*  The  battles,  sieges,  fortunes,  that  he  passed,' 

ought  to  have  come  back  upon  him." 

In  1825  he  would  certainly  have  become  subject  to  a 

Government  prosecution  only  for  the  death  of  Lord  Liver 

pool.     The  memoirs  of  Wolfe  Tone  had  just  been  brought 

to  Ireland.    Shiel  possessed  himself  of  a  copy,  and  made  it 

the  subject  of  comment  in  a  manner  which  could  not  fail 

to  excite  the  anger  and  the  fury  of  England.   He  spoke  like 

an  "  enraged  prophet :  " — 

"  Let  England,''  he  said,  "  beware  of  another  Wolfe  Tone.  Let 
her  not  rely  for  safety  on  her  old  protectors,  the  winds  /  She  may  call 
upon  them  in  her  hour  of  peril,  but  they  may  not  come,  or  should 
they  volunteer  their  force,  it  will  be  subdued  by  the  power  of  steam. 
A  vote  of  the  Catholics  of  1793  procured  for  Tone  an  introduction 
to  the  French  Directory,  and  the  sympathy  of  its  legions.  Let 
England  remember  that  the  Catholics  of  1825  are  more  than  double 
those  of  1793.  The  hair  of  Samson  has  grown  again.  Should 
oppression  drive  the  Catholics  to  the  field,  England  will  not  find  the 
Catholic  altars  of  the  nineteenth  century  barriers  to  their  impetuo- 
sity and  revenge  !  " 

He  lost  his  popularity,  great  as  it  was,  for  a  time,  by 
accepting  a  retainer  from  Lord  George  Beresford  in  his 
contest  for  Waterford  ;  and  he  did  not  improve  his  position 
in  a  national  point  of  view  by  siding  with  the  Government 
lie  had  so  often  denounced,  and  accepting  a  silk  gown  as 
his  reward. 

He  came  forward  again  in  1832,  when  the  Repeal 
agitation  commenced ;  was  returned  on  Repeal  principles 
for  Tipperary,  and  was  the  bitter  opponent  of  Sir  Robert 


LA  WL&SS-G  RATTAN— 0*9.  MaHON. 


Peel  as  long  as  lie  remained  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
He  was  counsel  for  Mr  John  O'Connell  at  the  State 
Trials.  He  died  in  1851,  and,  like  many  a  more  consistent 
Irishman,  is  buried  in  a  foreign  land. 

"  Honest  Jack  Lawless  "  was  a  Belfast  man,  and  editor 
of  the  Irishman,  then  published  in  that  city.  He  was  a 
powerful,  earnest  speaker.  He  was  something  of  an  ori- 
ginal character  also,  and  was  generally  in  opposition  to 
O'Connell.  He  went  to  the  bar  late  in  life,  and  died  in 
1S40,  a  few  months  after  receiving  the  appointment  of 
assistant  barrister. 

Henry  Grattan,  the  second  son  of  the  Grattan,  was  the 
first  member  of  Parliament  who  joined  the  Repeal  move- 
ment after  the  O'Connells.  Pie  did  not  take  a  prominent 
part  in  public  affairs  until  that  period  when  O'Connell  wa3 
imprisoned,  when  he  dared  the  Government  in  the  mor  t 
fearless  language;  but  for  some  unknown  reason  he  w** 
not  indicted. 

Mr  0' Gorman  Mahon  was  a  prominent  and  most  active 
member  of  the  Association.  He  was  a  clear  and  effective 
speaker,  and  his  personal  appearance  was  very  much  in  his 
favour.  He  was  one  of  those  who  joined  in  putting  down 
the  disastrous  attempts  made  by  English  members  of  Par- 
liament to  prevent  the  Irish  Roman  Catholic  members  from 
speaking  in  the  House.  O'Connell  styled  these  attacks 
"  beastly  bellowing,"  and  "  ruffianly  interruption."  Tha 
language  was  strong,  but  hon.  members  did  " bellow," 


532  0' GORMAN  MAHON  AND  STEELE. 


and  some  of  the  sounds  they  emitted  very  closely  resembled 
the  inarticulate  cries  of  the  lower  creation.  The  word 
ruffianly  "  was  unparliamentary,  but  so  was  the  conduct 
of  those  gentlemen,  although  the  Irish  members  only  were 
made  the  subjects  of  such  interruptions,1  the  object  of  which 
wTas  to  silence  them.  0' Gorman  Mahon,  O'Connell's  two 
sons,  John  and  Maurice,  Mr  O'Dwyer,  and  a  few  others, 
wished  to  put  down  these  ungentlemanly  interruptions  in 
the  only  way  in  which  they  could  be  put  down.  In  the 
midst  of  cries  of  "  Chair  "  and  "  Order,"  the  party  walked 
across  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  politely 
\  resented  their  cards  to  the  Tory  gentlemen  who  led  the 
attack.  A  scene  followed  of  another  and  stormier  kind, 
but  this  interruption  was  not  put  down  until  0' Gorman 
challenged  Sir  James  Graham,  and  Morgan  O'Connell 
fought  Lord  Alvanley. 

Steele  was  another  of  O'Connell's  enthusiastic  followers, 
lie  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  poetic  temperament, 
which  led  him  to  prefer  " forlorn  hopes"  to  more  ordinary 
battlefields.     He  set  off  in  early  life  on  a  somewhat 


1  The  English  House  of  Commons  has  not  always  been  remarkable 
for  gravity  and  gentlemanly  demeanour  in  debate,  and  even  in  the 
Lords,  propriety  is  not  always  observed.  On  the  22d  April  1831,  there 
was  "  a  state  of  confusion  almost  unexampled  since  the  dispersion  of  the 
Long  Parliament  by  Oliver  Cromwell."  The  noise  was  so  great  no  one 
could  hear  what  was  said.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  was  at  last  obliged 
to  move  that  the  standing  order  against  the  use  of  "  offensive  language," 
should  be  read. — Mansardy  iii.  1806. 


MR  BARRETT. 


533 


Quixotic  expedition  to  assist  the  overthrow  of  monarchy  in 
Spain,  and  proved  his  earnestness  by  mortgaging  his  pro- 
perty for  ten  thousand  pounds  to  purchase  military  stores. 
On  his  return  he  joined  O'Connell,  and  became  Head 
Pacijicator. 

Mr  Barrett  was  another  very  effective  ally  of  the  Repeal 
party.  As  a  journalist  he  did  much  and  effective  service. 
He  was  frequently  prosecuted  by  Government,  and  was 
imprisoned  three  times.  In  1827  he  established  the  Pilot, 
which  bec  ame  O'Connell's  principal  organ.  This  paper  was 
printed  in  the  office  of  the  Morning  and  Weekly  Register, 
and  when  it  was  suppressed  by  Government,  Barrett  easily 
continued  it,  evading  the  law  by  changing  the  title,  which 
he  now  made  to  run  thus  : — "  The  Morning  Register — the 
Pilot  having  been  suppressed"  Evidently  it  was  not  easy 
to  suppress  Mr  Barrett.  The  Pilot  was  an  evening  paper, 
and  was  kept  up  as  such  with  its  new  title,  and,  of  course, 
increased  largely  in  circulation. 

In  1833  he  was  prosecuted  for  publishing  a  letter  of 
O'Connell's  which  first  appeared  in  the  London  Morning 
Chronicle,  and  which  presumably  became  treasonable  by  its 
transmission  back  across  the  Channel.  Shiel  was  engaged 
for  the  defence,  but  on  the  very  evening  of  the  trial  he 
became  either  ill,  or  unwilling  to  act,  and  returned  his 
brief.  O'Connell  was,  therefore,  obliged  to  lead  himself. 
Barrett  was  found  guilty,  as  he  expected,  and  sentenced  to 
six  months'  imprisonment.    He  might  have  saved  himself 


534 


MR  RAT. 


by  giving  up  0' Conn  ell's  name  as  the  author,  but  he  wag 
far  too  true  a  patriot. 

Mr  Hay,  better  known  to  O'Connellites  as  "  My  dear  Hay," 
belongs  to  later  times,  with  other  men  who  served  the  great 
Liberator  for  a  time,  but  with  less  heartiness  than  urn 
earlier  followers, 


KINO  DAN. 

1825-1829. 

Utoland's  answer  to  Ireland's  car  TOR  JUSTICE — DECLINE  SINCE  THE  DATS 
OF  HEX  it  Y  VIII. — IRELAND  A  NECESSITY  FOR  ENGLAND— A  CATHOLIC  TRIUMPH 
— ADDRESS  To  THE  CATHOLICS  OF  CLARE — EXCITEMENT  AND  AGITATION — 
CONSTERNATION  U  ENGLAND — MONSTER  MEETING  AT  ENNIS — SCENE  AT  THE 
HUSTINGS,  THE  SHERIFF  AND  o'gORMAN  MAHON — THE  VOTING  DAY — MR 
VANDALEUR  AND  HIS  TENANTS—  RETURN  OF  O'CUNNELL — SPEECH  OF  SHIEL 

 THE  CHAIRING — EXCITEMENT  IN  ENGLAND — THE  BISHOPS  AND  PRIESTS — 

OFFICIAL  IRRITATION — KING  DAN  — THE  LEICESTER  DECLARATION — LETTER 
QP  WELLINGTON — THE  EMANCIPATION  BILL  PASSED — o'CONNELL'S  RIGHT  TO 
tk  SE\T  DISPUTED — AT  TH£  BAR  01  ZH£  HOUSfi — RE-ELECTION — SJtlTH 
OX^iIEli — MM  IHOaiAJK 


The  English  Government  boasted  of  its  free- 
dom— wonderful  things  were  said  about  Magna 
Charta,  the  "  palladium  of  t  ie  people's  rights,*' 
for  which,  be  it.  noted,  the  pe  pie  were  indebted  to 
the  Catholic  clergy,  as  they  are  still  indebted  to 
the    Catholic  clergy   in  Ire  and   for  protection 
against  landlord  coercion  at  e.ections.    But,  how- 
ever excellent  the  constitutkn  of  England  may 
have  been,  the  Irish  were  n- 1  permitted  to  enjoy 
its  benefits. 


538 


"DOGGES"  TO  BE  SHOT  DOWN. 


When  their  own  Brehon  law,  sacred  to  them  by  its  even- 
handed  justice  and  its  centuries  of  observance,  was  taken 
from  them,  they  asked  again  and  again  to  be  allowed  the 
justice  of  English  law.  But  no  ;  for  all  reply  they  got  the 
sword,  the  triangle,  and  the  gallows.  Their  cries  for 
justice  were  silenced  occasionally  by  brute  force  by  men 
like  Cole,  Coote,  Bagnel,  Cromwell,  and  Grey,2  who  did  the 
devil's  work,  and  enjoyed  it  thoroughly,  because,  as  yet, 
they  had  not  the  devil's  sufferings  to  bear  as  well.  The 
Irish  were  "dogges"  to  be  shot  down,  and  hunted,  and 
got  rid  of,  if  possible  ;  but  then  it  was  not  always  possible, 
and  despite  hunting,  and  shooting,  and  violent  banish- 
ment to  Con  naught  and  Jamaica,  and  polite  banishment 
to  continental  countries,  the  Irish  race  grew  and  prospered 
numerically. 

From  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  the  prestige  of  the  Eng- 
lish nation  steadily  declined.  The  decline  was  slow,  but  it 
was  none  the  less  sure.  All  the  bright  and  fair  chivalry 
which  found  its  embodiment  in  early  ages  in  Arthur,  and 
in  mediaeval  times  in  the  Black  Prince,  died  out — died  of 
inanition.    There  can  be  no  physical  or  spiritual  beauty 

2  A  cursory  acquaintance  with  Irish  history  will  supply  details  of  the 
bloody  work  done  by  these  men.  In  the  "  Commons'  Proceedings  "  of 
1644,  vol.  iii.  p.  517,  it  is  recorded  that  Captain  Swanley,  having  cap- 
tured a  vessel  at  sea,  and  thrown  seventy  persons  overboard  because  tltev 
were  Irish,  was  summoned  to  the  bar  of  the  House,  and  had  thanks  there 
given  him  for  his  good  service,  and  a  chain  of  gold.1'  This  wa3  by  no 
means  an  exceptional  case. — See  Clarendon^  vol.  ii.  p.  478. 


ENGLAND  OX  THE  DECLINE, 


539 


tfithout  life.  The  life  died  out  in  England  when  it  denied 
the  source  of  life.  The  foul  filthy  immorality  of  the 
Court  of  Henry  VIIL,  the  first  "  head  "  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  was  perpetuated  in  the  reign  of  the  Virgin  Queen, 
with  this  difference  only,  that  it  was  a  little  disguised.  A 
very  slight  acquaintance  with  history  is  sufficient  to  prove 
what  the  Courts  of  the  Georges  and  the  Williams  were. 
The  vices  of  the  Courts  descended  to  the  people.  What, 
indeed,  was  there  to  prevent  the  descent?  And  as  corrup- 
tion of  mind  and  morals  became  more  and  more  prevalent, 
60  did  hatred  of  that  race  become  more  and  more  intense 
which  had  kept  its  morality  because  it  kept  its  faith 
practically.3 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  it  was 
discovered  that  the  services  of  Irishmen  were  necessary  for 
the  very  existence  of  the  British  Empire.  She  boasts  of 
her  victories,  and  with  justice;  but  they  were  won  for  her 
by  Irish  soldiers.  Irishmen  came  at  last  to  know  their 
own  value  to  England,  to  see  that  some  price,  however 
trifling,  could  be  put  upon  their  services.    England  was 


3  Protestants  who  cannot  deny  the  morality  and  exceptional  freedom 
from  ciime  in  Ireland,  point  to  continental  countries  also  Catholic,  and 
ask  why  are  these  countries  not  equally  moral  ?  The  answer  is  simple. 
We  deny  that  Catholic  countries  are  less  moral,  using  the  word  in  a 
broad  sense,  than  Protestant  countries.  Protestant  tourists  admit  this, 
"With  the  exception  of  a  few  prejudiced  persons.  If  Ireland  is  excep- 
tionally moral,  it  is  because  the  Irish  practise  their  religion,  as  a  people, 
and  have  always  done  so,  more  faithfully  than  any  other  nation. 


540 


MERE  VOTING  MACHINES. 


not  in  a  position  to  deny  the  debt,  but  she  paid  by  instal- 
ments and  as  scantily  as  possible.  It  would  have  been  better 
to  have  made  a  virtue  of  necessity.  So  it  came  to  pass  that, 
in  the  year  1829,  an  Irish  Catholic  freeholder  was  allowed 
to  vote  theoretically  :  practically,  however,  the  vote  was 
of  little  use ; — he  dared  not  disobey  his  landlord,  and,  above 
all,  he  dared  not  vote  for  any  individual  who  could  really 
be  his  representative,  since  no  Catholic  could  sit  in  the 
Imperial  Parliament.  The  whole  system  of  parliamentary 
representation  was  an  anomaly, — it  is  an  anomaly  even 
yet  to  a  certain  extent,  and  probably  will  be  to  the  end  of 
time,  since  there  will  always  be  a  power  to  which  the  "free 
and  independent  elector "  must  bow — or  take  the  con- 
sequences. As  a  general  rule,  electors  do  not  see  why  they 
should  take  the  consequences.  O'Connell  taught  them  for 
the  first  time  to  act  as  free  men. 

In  the  year  1825,  there  was  an  election  in  Waterford ; 
and  then,  for  the  first  time,  Irishmen  knew  that  it  was 
possible  for  them  to  be  free  and  independent  if  they  dared. 
The  Beresfords  were  lords  of  the  soil,  and  expected  their 
serfs  to  obey  them.  They  had  been  obeyed  until  now.  A 
Catholic  population  was  compelled  to  vote  for  an  Orange 
representative ;  it  was  that — or  starvation.  Mr  Stuart 
came  forward  now  to  oppose  Lord  George  Beresford,  and 
engaged  O'Connell  as  counsel.  He  chose  wisely.  At  the 
hustings,  O'Connell  was  proposed  merely  to  give  him  the 
opportunity  of  speaking,  for  the  idea  of  the  election  of  a 


RESOLVED  TO  BE  FREE. 


641 


Catholic  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  any  of  the 
national  party.  The  indignation  of  the  Orange  clique  may 
be  better  imagined  than  described.  They  were  no  longer 
the  "  recognized  leaders  "  of  the  people— their  power  had 
received  a  blow  which  it  never  recovered. 

O'Connell  spoke  for  two  hours,  and  then  withdrew  the 
claim  he  had  no  intention  of  prosecuting;  but  his  purpose 
was  answered.  Lord  George  withdrew  in  a  few  days,  when 
he  perceived  that  there  was  not  the  least  hope  of  his  return, 
and  Mr  Stuart  was  elected. 

This  success  gave  an  impetus  to  the  cause  of  freedom. 
The  people  learned  that  it  was  possible  for  them  to  exer- 
cise the  power  which  they  had  hitherto  believed  to  be 
merely  ideal.  They  began  to  see  that  it  was  for  them  to 
decide  whether  they  would  be  "  free  and  independent 
electors,"  or  mere  voting  machines.  They  saw  the  cost  also ; 
but  when  did  an  Irishman  ever  shrink  from  personal  sacri- 
fice for  the  good  of  his  country  ?4 

Curiously  enough,  O'Connell's  return  for  Clare  was  sug- 


4  Shiel  used  to  tell  an  anecdote  of  this  election,  of  -which  he  vouched 
for  the  accuracy.  Lord  Waterford  was  dying  at  the  time,  but  the  ruling 
passion  was  strong  in  death.  He  heard  that  his  own  huntsman,  Manton, 
was  going  to  "vote  against  him"  He  sent  for  the  old  and  faithful 
follower  ;  but  though  the  poor  man's  heart  was  sore,  both  from  affection 
for  his  old  master,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  consequence  of  exercising 
his  right,  he  refused  to  vote  "  against  his  country  and  his  religion."  The 
dying  peer  had  his  revenge.  Manton  was  dismissed,  deprived  of  his 
farm,  and  driven  out  on  the  world  a  beggar. 


542 


TIME  SIEZED  BY  TEE  FORELOCK. 


gested  by  a  Tory.  This  gentleman,  Sir  David  Roose,  was 
under  considerable  personal  obligations  to  O'Connell.  He 
met  Mr  Fitzpatrick,  the  son  of  the  well-known  Catholic 
bookseller,  in  Nassau  Street,  who  informed  him  that  Mr 
Fitzgerald  would  be  obliged  to  seek  re-election  for  Clare, 
and  suggested  that  O'Connell  should  oppose  him.  Mr 
Fitzpatrick  went  instantly  to  O'Connell,  who  was  by  no 
means  disposed  to  enter  upon  the  contest.  Mr  Yesey  Fitz- 
gerald was  a  Liberal,  and  had  acted  very  fairly  towards  the 
Catholics,  but  he  was  not  a  Catholic.  No  Catholic  had 
ever  yet  stood  for  Parliament  since  the  time  when  every 
member  of  Parliament  was  a  Catholic;  it  was  time  that 
something  should  be  done  to  assert  their  claims.  O'Con- 
nell saw  this,  and  he  saw  also  that  such  an  opportunity 
might  not  occur  again  for  a  considerable  period. 

With  him  to  decide  was  to  act.  He  went  at  once  to 
the  office  of  the  Evening  Post  and  wrote  his  address. 
This  paper  had  now  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr  Con- 
way, with  whom  O'Connell  was  not  on  friendly  terms; 
but  all  discord  was  at  an  end  when  the  Liberator  entered 
his  office,  declared  his  purpose,  and  exclaimed,  "  Let  us 
be  friends!" 

The  address  was  soon  written,  and  that  evening  all 
Dublin  was  in  a  state  of  wild  excitement;  and  in  a  few 
days  the  flame  had  extended  throughout  Ireland,  and 
reached  to  England. 

The  address  was  masterly,  and  worthy  to  be  the  first 


TO  THE  ELECTORS  OF  CLARE. 


543 


appeal  to  Irish  electors  from  one  of  their  own  ancient 
faith  : — 

"  TO  THE  ELECTORS  OF  THE  COUNTY  OF  CLARE. 

"  Dublin,  June  1828. 

u  FELLOW- COUNTRYMEN, — Your  county  wants  a  representative. 
L  respectfully  solicit  your  suffrages  to  raise  me  to  that  station. 

"  Of  my  qualifications  to  fill  that  station  I  leave  you  to  judge.  The 
habits  of  public  speaking,  and  many,  many  years  of  public  business, 
render  me,  perhaps,  equally  suited  with  most  men  to  attend  to  the 
interests  of  Ireland  in  Parliament. 

4i  You  will  be  told  I  am  not  qualified  to  be  elected.  The  assertion, 
my  friends,  is  untrue.  T  am  qualified  to  be  elected,  and  to  be  your 
representative.  It  is  true  that,  as  a  Catholic,  I  cannot,  and  of  course 
never  will,  take  the  oaths  at  present  prescribed  to  members  of  Par- 
liament; but  the  authority  which  created  these  oaths  (the  Parliament) 
can  abrogate  them  ;  and  I  entertain  a  confident  hope  that,  if  you 
elect  me,  the  most  bigoted  of  our  enemies  will  see  the  necessity  of 
removing  from  the  chosen  representative  of  the  people  an  obstacle 
which  would  prevent  him  from  doing  his  duty  to  his  King  and  to  his 
country. 

"  The  oath  at  present  required  by  law  is,  1  that  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  and  the  invocation  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  other 
saints,  as  now  practised  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  are  impious  and 
idolatrous.'  Of  course  I  will  never  stain  my  soul  with  such  an  oath. 
I  leave  that  to  my  honourable  opponent,  Mr  Vesey  Fitzgerald.  He 
has  often  taken  that  horrible  oath.  He  is  ready  to  take  it  again, 
and  asks  your  votes  to  enable  him  so  to  swear.  I  would  rather  t>e 
torn  limb  from  limb  than  take  it.  Electors  of  the  county  of  Clare ! 
choose  between  me,  who  abominate  that  oath,  and  Mr  Vesey  Fitz- 
gerald, who  has  sworn  it  full  twenty  times  !  Return  me  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  it  is  probable  that  such  a  blasphemous  oath  will  be 
abolished  for  ever.  As  your  representative,  I  will  try  the  question 
with  the  friends  in  Parliament  of  Mr  Vesey  Fitzgerald.    They  may 


544 


TO  THE  ELECTORS  OF  CLARE. 


send  me  to  prison.  I  am  ready  to  go  there,  to  promote  the  cause  of 
the  Catholics,  and  of  universal  liberty.  The  discussion  which  the 
atto.inpt  to  exclude  your  representative  from  the  House  of  Commons 
must  excite,  will  create  a  sensation  all  over  Europe,  and  produce 
such  a  burst  of  contemptuous  indignation  against  British  bigotry  in 
every  enlightened  country  in  the  world,  that  the  voice  of  all  the 
great  and  good  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  being  joined  to 
the  universal  shout  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  will  overpower 
every  opposition,  and  render  it  impossible  for  Peel  and  Wellington 
any  longer  to  close  the  doors  of  the  constitution  against  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland. 

"  Electors  of  the  county  of  Clare  !  Mr  Vesey  Fitzgerald  claims,  as 
his  only  merit,  that  he  is  a  friend  to  the  Catholics.  Why,  I  am  a 
Catholic  myself  ;  and  if  he  be  sincerely  our  friend,  let  him  vote  for 
me,  and  raise  before  the  British  Empire  the  Catholic  question  in  my 
humble  person,  in  the  way  most  propitious  to  my  final  success.  But 
no,  fellow-countrymen,  no  ;  he  will  make  no  sacrifice  to  that  cause; 
he  will  call  himself  your  friend,  and  act  the  part  of  your  worst  and 
most  unrelenting  enemy. 

"  I  do  not  like  to  give  the  epitome  of  his  political  life ;  yet, 
when  the  present  occasion  so  loudly  calls  for  it,  I  cannot  refrain. 
He  took  office  under  Perceval, — under  that  Perceval  who  obtained 
power  by  raising  the  base,  bloody,  and  unchristian  cry  of  'No 
Popery  5  in  England. 

"  He  had  the  nomination  of  a  member  to  serve  for  the  borough 
of  Ennis.  He  nominated  Mr  Spencer  Perceval,  then  a  decided 
opponent  of  the  Catholics. 

"  He  voted  on  the  East  Retford  measure — for  a  measure  that 
would  put  two  virulent  enemies  of  the  Catholics  into  Parliament. 

"  In  the  case  of  the  Protestant  Dissenters  in  England,  he  voted 
for  their  exclusion — that  is,  against  the  principle  of  the  freedom  of 
conscience  ;  that  sacred  principle  which  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  have 
ever  cultivated  and  cherished,  on  which  we  framed  our  rights  to 
ei  Mancipation. 


TO   TEE  ELECTORS  OF  CLARE. 


545 


"  Finally,  he  voted  for  the  suppression  of  the  Catholic  Association 
of  Ireland  ! 

u  And,  after  this,  sacred  Heaven  !  he  calls  himself  a  friend  to  the 
Catholics. 

<;  He  is  the  ally  and  colleague  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  and  Mr 
Peel.  He  is  their  partner  in  power  ;  they  are,  you  know,  the  most 
bitter,  persevering,  and  unmitigated  enemies  of  the  Catholics  ;  and, 
after  ail  this,  he,  the  partnerof  our  bitterest  and  unrelenting  enemies, 
calls  himself  the  friend  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland. 

"  Having  thus  traced  a  few  of  the  demerits  of  my  right  honour- 
able opponent,  what  shall  I  say  for  myself? 

"  I  appeal  to  my  past  life  for  my  unremitting  and  disinterested 
attachment  to  the  religion  and  liberties  of  Catholic  Ireland. 

"  If  you  return  me  to  Parliament,  T  pledge  myself  to  vote  for 
every  measure  favourable  to  Radical  REFORM  in  the  representative 
system,  so  that  the  House  of  Commons  may  truly,  as  our  Catholic 
ancestors  intended  it  should  do,  represent  all  the  people. 

"  To  vote  for  the  repeal  of  the  Vestry  Bill,  the  Subletting  Act, 
and  the  Grand  Jury  Laws. 

"  To  vote  for  the  diminution  and  more  equal  distribution  of  the 
overgrown  wealth  of  the  Established  Church  in  Ireland,  so  that  the 
surplus  may  be  restored  to  the  sustentation  of  the  poor,  the  aged, 
and  the  infirm. 

"  To  vote  for  every  measure  of  retrenchment  and  reduction  of 
the  national  expenditure,  so  as  to  relieve  the  people  from  the  bur- 
dens of  taxation,  and  to  bring  the  question  of  the  REPEAL  OF 
THE  UNION,  at  the  earliest  possible  period,  before  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Legislature. 

"  Electors  of  the  county  of  Clare  !  choose  between  me  and  Mr 
Vesey  Fitzgerald  ;  choose  between  him  who  so  long  cultivated  his 
own  interest,  and  one  who  seeks  only  to  advance  yours;  choose 
between  the  sworn  libeller  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  one  who  has 
devoted  his  early  life  to  your  cause,  who  has  consumed  his  manhood 
in  a  struggle  for  your  liberties,  and  who  has  ever  lived,  and  is  ready 


546 


AGITATION  IN  IRELAND, 


to  die,  for  the  integrity,  the  honour,  the  purity,  of  the  Catholic 
faith  and  the  promotion  of  Irish  freedom  and  happiness.  Your 
faithful  servant,  Daniel  O'CONNELL." 

The  next  movement  was  to  collect  funds.  In  one  week 
fourteen  thousand  pounds  were  at  his  command.  Cork, 
always  liberal  for  country  or  religion,  helped  considerably  to 
swell  the  amount.  Canvassers  were  wanted,  too,  as  O'Con- 
nell  could  not  leave  Dublin  until  the  last  moment ;  and  they 
were  found  also.  Mr  Shiel,  who  arrived  several  days  before 
O'Connell,  was  his  counsel.  Father  Tom,  as  the  Rev.  Dr 
Maguire  was  familiarly  termed,  went  also.  Mr  Eonayne, 
a  Cork  man — one  of  the  famous  Cork  Ronaynes — accom- 
panied him.  A  host  of  lesser  Repeal  luminaries  followed; 
but  Father  Tom  and  Mr  Ronayne  were  very  towers  of 
strength,  for  they  spoke  to  the  people  in  their  own  old 
Celtic  tongue,  and  told  them  why  the  Liberator  was  the 
best  man  for  Ireland. 

When  all  this  was  known  in  England,  the  consternation 
was  terrible.  The  old  war-cries  were  declaimed  with  double 
vigour.  Lord  Clancarty  wrote  in  a  panic  of  alarm  from  the 
Under-Secretary's  Lodge  in  Dublin  about  "  the  state  of 
the  country," — that  unhappy  country,  which  is  always 
in  a  "  state,"  unpleasant,  from  one  cause  or  another,  to 
English  legislators.  He  uttered  loud  complaints  of  the 
"  unalterable  hostility"  of  the  Roman  Catholics  "  to  us;" 
but  he  forgot  to  add,  as  he  was  too  prejudiced  to  see,  that 
their  hostility  was  not  to  individuals,  but  to  a  system. 


COXSTERXATION  IX  EXGLAXD. 


547 


They  would  have  been  strange  men  these  Irish  Catholics, 
and  very  unworthy  of  their  manhood,  if  they  had  not  been 
hosrile  to  a  system  which  did  not  permit  them  a  voice  in 
their  own  government.  They  talked  "  loudly  "  about  "  Par- 
liamentary reform,"  that  was  another  of  their  crimes;  yet 
Parliament  reformed  itself  soon  after.  Every  "rational 
man, "—an  expression  which  he  glossed,  every  man  agreeing 
with  Lord  Clancarty,— was  disgusted  with  these  miserable 
Iris !i.  They  would  not  sit  down  and  hug  their  chains— 
they  would  assist  themselves— they  would  declare  that  they 
should  have  the  rights  of  men.  If  they  had  not  been  Irish, 
their  spirit  and  independence  would  have  been  highly  com- 
mendable ;  if  they  had  not  been  Catholics,  they  would  have 
been  pronounced  martyrs  to  their  desire  for  political  and 
religions  liberty,  and  would  have  been  extolled  accordingly. 
But  as  they  were  Irish,  and  also  Catholics,  as  they  could  not 
alter  their  nationality,  and  would  not  alter  their  religion,  they 
were  denounced  as  traitors.  Yet  Lord  Clancarty  declared 
that  the  English  public  "  were  as  ignorant  on  the  whole 
subject  as  if  no  such  island  existed  ;  "  and  concluded,  and 
showed  his  own  ignorance  by  saying,  that  the  Crovernment 
of  the  day  "had  handed  over  its  administration  to  a  Popish 
hierarchy  and  Popish  priests."6 


5  "  Diary  of  Lord  Colchester,"  vol.  iii.  p.  575.  Precisely  similar  ex- 
press ns  are  used  in  the  present  day  by  the  anti-Catholic  party  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  because  the  Government  does  rot  compel  submis. 
sioii  to  the  ministrations  of  a  suspended  priest. 


548    AN  ''EVENT  DRAMATIC  AND  SUBLIME* 


Lord  Colchester  has  left  it  on  record,  that  "  every  one 
agreed  that  O'Connell's  present  proceedings  conld  not  he 
tolerated,  and  that  the  interference  of  the  priests  must  he 
put  down."  He  adds,  however,  "  The  question  is,  By  what 
means  ?  "  And  that  was  the  question.  They  could  not  he 
hanged  for  voting,  because  they  were  allowed  to  vote ; 
they  could  not  he  imprisoned  for  selecting  a  candidate, 
because  the  object  of  a  vote  was  supposed  to  be  to  allow  a 
man  a  choice ;  they  could  not  be  transported  beyond  the 
seas,  for  they  had  not  committed  any  indictable  offence. 

But  there  were  two  or  three  English  statesmen  who  took 
a  broader  view  of  the  affair,  like  Lord  Palmerston,  and  saw 
that  "the  event  was  dramatic  and  sublime;"  6  and  so  it 
was.  Thirty  thousand  Irishmen  assembled  in  and  about 
Ennis  on  a  sultry  day  in  July,  and  yet  not  one  of  them 
touched  a  mouthful  of  the  ardent  spirit  which  is  the  special 
temptation  of  the  Celt.  There  was  indeed  one  drunken  man 
seen,  but  only  one  ;  but  he  was  an  Englishman  and  a  Pro- 
testant, and  strangely  enough,  if  one  contemporary  record  is 
to  be  believed, — O'Connell's  own  coachman,  whom  he  com- 
mitted on  his  own  deposition  for  a  breach  of  the  peace.7 

Lord  Anglesea  had  seven  thousand  regulars  in  reserve, 
but  he  prudently  kept  them  a  all  out  of  sight."  He  need 
not  have  troubled  himself,  for  there  was  not  so  much  as  a 

0  "  Life  of  Lord  Palmerston,"  vol.  i.  p.  306. 

*  So  Lord  Palmerston  says  ;  but  we  doubt  if  O'Connell  had  an  Eng- 
lishman in  his  service,  though  he  may  probably  have  had  a  Protestant. 


SCENE  ON  THE  HUSTINGS. 


549 


blackthorn  stick  to  be  seen  in  the  whole  assembly.  Bands 
of  music  enlivened  the  scene,  green  flags  and  green  banners 
waved  in  all  directions;  and  some  enterprising  manufac- 
turer had  gone  so  far  as  to  supply  the  women  with  hand- 
kerchiefs on  which  the  portrait  of  O'Connell  was  printed. 

A  scene  occurred  on  the  hustings.  Mr  Vesey  Fitzgerald 
and  his  party  stood  on  one  side  of  the  High  Sheriff,  and, 
unhappily,  with  him  stood  the  few  Catholic  aristocracy  in 
the  county.  O'Connell  stood  on  the  other  side.  He  had 
only  the  aristocracy  of  talent,  and  a  few  faithful  friends ; 
but  the  people  were  around  him  in  their  thousands,  and  the 
priests  in  their  hundreds. 

The  High  Sheriff  was  in  an  uncomfortable  position.  It 
can  scarcely  be  pleasant  to  preside  over  a  contested  election 
under  any  circumstances.  His  sympathies  were  naturally 
with  the  aristocracy,  and  he  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to 
show  his  power,  and  make  an  example  (if  he  could)  of  some 
one  on  the  opposite  side.  He  made  an  unhappy  selection. 
Just  as  the  proceedings  were  about  to  commence,  a  gentle- 
man leaped  over  the  gallery,  and  quietly  sat  down  on  the 
side  of  it  with  his  feet  suspended  over  the  people.  His 
dress  was  as  remarkable  as  his  appearance.  He  wore  a 
coat  and  trousers  of  Irish  tabinet;  he  dispensed  with  a 
Waistcoat,  and  wore  a  blue  shirt,  open  at  the  neck;  but  his 
offence  was  wearing  an  immense  sash  scarf-fashion  across 
his  shoulder,  with  a  medal  of  the  "  Order  of  Liberators  "  od 
his  breast. 


650 


01  GORMAN  MAHOK 


Mr  Mahony,  the  Higli  Sheriff,  tried  to  put  him  down. 
He  had  been  accustomed  for  some  years  to  govern  at 
Canton,  and  spoke  with  an  air  of  authority.  "  Who,  sir, 
are  you?"  he  demanded,  addressing  the  offender.  The 
offender  replied  in  stentorian  tones,  "  My  name  is  O'Gorman 
Mali  on."  "  I  tell  that  gentleman  to  take  off'  that  badge/' 
replied  the  Sheriff.  There  was  a  moment's  pause,  and  then 
O'Gorman  Mahon  replied,  in  slow  clear  accents,  and  with  the 
utmost  courtesy  of  demeanour,  "  This  gentleman  (laying 
his  hand  on  his  breast)  tells  that  gentleman  (pointing  with 
the  other  to  the  Sheriff)  that  if  that  gentleman  presumes 
to  touch  this  gentleman,  this  gentleman  will  defend  him- 
self against  that  gentleman,  or  any  other  gentleman,  while 
he  has  the  arm  of  a  gentleman  to  protect  him." 

The  Sheriff  sat  down. 

There  was  a  shout  of  triumph  in  court,  and  then  Mr 
Yesey  was  proposed,  and  made  an  extremely  telling  speech- 
He  was  by  no  means  unpopular,  and  as  loud  applause 
followed,  O'Connell  found  it  necessary  to  exert  all  his  elo- 
quence in  reply.  He  began  by  dissecting  the  political 
career  of  Mr  Fitzgerald's  supporters,  and  then  by  attacking 
Mr  Fitzgerald.  His  great  point  here  was  that  he  had  acted 
under  Mr  Perceval.  "  He  is  the  friend  of  Peel,"  exclaimed 
O'Connell,  "  the  bloody  Perceval,  and  the  candid  and 
manly  Peel ;  and  he  is  our  friend,  and  everybody's  friend  !" 

This  observation  had  a  powerful  effect  on  the  multitude. 
Lt  the  close  of  the  poll  on  the  first  day,  the  two  candidates 


TERR  IF  TING   TEE  VOTERS. 


551 


were  found  nearly  equal.  On  the  second  day,  O'Connell  was 
considerably  ahead.    But  the  county  gentlemen  were  deter- 
mined not  to  give  in  to  the  last.    It  was  all  the  fault  of  the 
priests,  they  said ;  if  the  priests  could  only  be  put  down  or 
got  rid  of,  they  might  easily  frighten  their  easily-terrified 
tenants.    But,  as  Lord  Colchester  said,  "  the  question  was 
the  means."    At  last  they  hoped  for  success.    An  attorney 
employed  by  Mr  Fitzgerald  dashed  furiously  into  the  court- 
house, and   declared   that  a  priest  was  "  terrifying-  the 
voters."    The  counsel  for  O'Connell  denied  the  charge;  the 
assessor  demanded  the  culprit.     The  High  Sheriff  Imped 
for  a  bad  case  of  "  priestly  intimidation."    The  victim  was 
caught  flagrante  delicto.     It   was   Father   Murphy,  of 
Corofin.     He  was  brought  before  his  judges, — a  man  of 
ghastly,  almost  spectral  appearance,  with  heavy  eyebrows 
overhanging  his  piercing  eyes.    "  You  were  looking  at  my 
voters,"  roared  the  attorney.     "  But  I  said  nothing,"  re- 
plied the  priest;  "and  I  suppose  I  may  be  allowed  to 
look  at  my  parishioners."  "  Not  with  such  a  face  as  that?'' 
exclaimed  the  irate  functionary.    There  was  a  shout  of 
daughter ;  the  priest  certainly  could  not  alter  his  natural 
appearance.    One  of  O'Connell's  agents  rushed  in  now  and 
appealed  to  the  unhappy  Sheriff.    "  We  have  no  fair  play, 
Mr  Sheriff.    Mr  Singleton  is  frightening  his  tenants;  he 
caught  hold  of  one  just  now  and  threatened  vengeance 
against  him." 

Apriest3  indeed,  might  not  even  "look"  at  a  voter  or 


552 


MR    VANDALEUR  AND  HIS  TENANTS. 


give  him  advice,  but  a  landlord  might  drive  his  unhappy 
serfs  before  him  to  the  poll  like  sheep,  and,  if  they  dared 
resist,  threaten  them  with  "  inconvenience"  in  the  future. 

Mr  Vandaleur,  of  Kilrush,  drove  in  to  Ennis  with  three, 
hundred  tenants  behind  him  guarded  by  military,  a 
singular  specimen  of  free  voting,  but  one  by  no  means 
uncommon  even  at  the  present  day.  As  they  approached 
the  town,  Mr  Vandaleur  took  the  footman's  place  behind 
his  own  carriage  to  watch  them.  But  in  vain.  As  they 
passed  O'Connell's  hotel,  he  came  on  a  stand  from  whence 
he  and  his  friends  addressed  the  voters  from  time  to  time. 
The  air  was  rent  with  a  shout  for  the  Liberator  ;  the  crowd 
dexterously  shut  in  the  voters  from  Mr  Vandaleur's  car- 
riage, and  he  was  obliged  to  pass  on  and  leave  the  tenants 
to  vote  as  they  pleased,  or  as  they  dared,  with  the  pro- 
spect of  such  "  inconvenience  "  as  demands  of  rent  they 
could  not  pay,  of  loss  of  custom,  or  of  wholesale  ejectment. 

O'Connell  was  returned  triumphantly,  and  the  much- 
enduring  Sheriff  was  obliged  to  announce  the  fact  with 
such  resignation  as  he  could  command.  The  air  was  rent 
with  acclamations,  with  such  shouts  as  only  Irish  lungs 
can  give  and  Irish  hearts  can  suggest.  O'Connell  ad- 
dressed the  people  in  the  intoxication  of  gladness,  and, 
with  his  usual  courtesy,  for  he  was  never  sarcastic  without 
cause,  he  paid  Mr  Fitzgerald  some  well-merited  compli- 
ments on  the  manner  in  which  he  sustained  his  defeat,  and 
asked  a  hearty  cheer  for  him.    He  apologised  to  him  for 


SHI  EL   OX  THE  IRISH  PRIESTHOOD. 


any  hard  things  he  had  said  in  the  heat  of  the  canvass,  and 
said  Mr  Fitzgerald  was  in  many  ways  worthy  of  his  Anglo- 
Irish  patronymic. 

Shiel  came  out  in  great  force.  He  spoke  strongly  of 
the  absurd  party-cry  which  was  then  beginning  to  be  raised, 
and  which  will  probably  increase  more  every  day  in  in- 
tensity. So  long  as  the  priests  and  people  were  fettered  by 
penal  laws,  there  was  no  complaint ;  only  Government  was 
very  willing  to  pension  the  clergy  if  they  would  act  as 
spies.  But  the  clergy  would  neither  have  the  pension  nor 
undertake  the  duty.  They  were  indeed  at  liberty  to  inter- 
fere for  the  Government  as  much  as  they  liked ;  but  if 
they  dared  speak  their  own  minds,  or  advise  the  people  to 
give  their  votes  according  to  their  consciences,  no  matter 
what  the  consequence  might  be — if  they  told  them  that 
voting  was  a  solemn  and  sacred  duty,  for  which  they  were 
individually  responsible  to  God  and  their  country,  then 
np  rose  a  clamour  against "  priestly  interference,"  and  a 
demon  shout  of  rage  against  "  priestly  dictatiuu." 

Shiel  was  a  Catholic,  but  he  was  not  ashamed  of  his 
faith  or  of  its  priesthood. 

u  Do  not  be  surprised,"  he  exclaimed,  in  those  thrilling  tones  he 
knew  so  well  how  to  use, — "  do  not  be  surprised  that  the  peasantry 
flbould  thus  at  once  throw  off  their  allegiance  to  you,  when  they  are 
under  the  operation  of  emotions  which  it  would  be  wonderful  if  they 
could  resist.  The  feeling  by  which  they  are  now  actuated  would 
make  them  not  only  vote  against  their  landlords,  but  would  make 
them  rush  into  the  field,  scale  the  batteries  of  a  fortress,  and  mount 


554 


SPEECH  OF  SB  I  EL. 


the  breach.  I  hear  it  said,  that  before  many  days  go  by  there  will 
be  many  tears  shed  in  the  hovels  of  your  slaves,  and  that  you  will 
take  a  terrible  vengeance  of  their  treason.  .  .  .  But  you  will  ask, 
Wherefore  should  they  prefer  their  priests  to  their  landlords,  and 
have  purer  reverence  for  the  altars  of  their  religion  than  for  the 
counter  on  which  you  calculate  your  rents  1  Ah !  gentlemen,  consider 
a  little  the  relation  in  which  the  priest  stands  towards  the  peasant, 
Let  us  put  the  priest  into  one  scale,  and  the  landlord  into  the  other, 
and  let  us  see  which  should  preponderate.  I  will  take  an  excellent 
landlord  and  an  excellent  priest.  The  landlord  shall  be  Sir  Edward 
O'Brien,  and  the  priest  shall  be  Mr  Murphy,  of  Corofin.  Who  is 
Sir  Edward  O'Brien  ?  A  gentleman  who  has  a  great  fortune,  who 
lives  in  a  splendid  mansion,  and  who,  from  the  windows  of  a  palace, 
looks  upon  possessions  almost  as  wide  as  those  which  his  ancestors 
beheld  from  the  summit  of  their  feudal  towers.  His  tenants 
pay  him  their  rents  twice  a  year,  and  they  have  their  land  at  a 
moderate  rate.  So  much  for  the  landlord.  I  come  now  to  Father 
Murphy,  of  Corofin.  Where  does  he  reside  ?  In  a  humble  abode, 
situated  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain,  and  in  the  midst  of  dreariness 
and  waste.  He  dwells  in  the  midst  of  his  parishioners,  and  is  their 
benefactor,  their  friend,  their  father.  It  is  not  only  in  the  actual 
ministry  of  the  sacraments  of  religion  that  he  stands  as  an  object  of 
affectionate  reverence  among  them.  I  saw  him,  indeed,  at  his  altar, 
surrounded  by  thousands,  and  felt  myself  the  influence  of  his  con- 
tagious and  enthusiastic  devotion.  He  addressed  the  people  in 
the  midst  of  a  rude  edifice,  and  in  a  language  which  I  did  not 
understand  (the  old  Irish) ;  but  I  could  perceive  what  a  command 
he  has  over  the  minds  of  his  devoted  followers.  It  is  not  merely 
as  the  celebrator  of  the  rites  of  divine  worship  that  he  is  dear  to  hia 
flock :  he  is  their  companion,  the  mitigator  of  their  calamities,  the 
soother  of  their  afflictions,  the  trustee  of  their  hearts,  the  repository 
of  their  secrets,  the  guardian  of  their  interests,  and  the  sentinel  of 
their  death  beds.  A  peasant  is  dying  ;  in  the  midst  of  the  winter's 
night  a  knock  is  heard  at  the  door  of  the  priest,  and  he  is  told  that 


O'COXXELL'S  TRIUMPH  COMPLETE. 


his  parishioner  requires  his  spiritual  assistance ;  the  wind  is  howling, 
the  snow  descends  upon  the  hills,  and  the  rain  and  storm  beat 
agiiinst  his  face  ;  yet  he  goes  forth,  hurries  to  the  hovel  of  the  ex- 
piring wretch,  and  taking  his  station  beside  the  mass  of  pestilence 
of  which  the  bed  of  straw  is  composed,  beuds  to  receive  the  last 
whisper  which  unloads  the  heart  of  its  guilt,  though  the  lips  of  the 
sinner  should  be  tainted  with  disease,  and  he  should  exhale  mor- 
tality in  his  breath.  Gentlemen,  this  is  not  the  language  of  artificial 
declamation  ;  this  is  not  the  mere  extravagance  of  rhetorical  phrase. 
Every  word  of  this  is  the  truth — the  notorious,  palpable,  and  un- 
gnestionable  truth.  You  know  it ;  every  one  of  you  knows  it  to  be 
true  ;  and  now  let  me  ask  you,  Can  you.  wonder  for  a  moment  that 
the  people  should  be  attached  to  their  clergy,  and  should  follow 
their  ordinances  as  if  they  were  the  injunctions  of  God  1  Gentle- 
men, forgive  me  if  I  venture  to  supplicate,  on  behalf  of  your  poor 
tenants,  for  mercy  to  them.  Pardon  them,  in  the  name  of  that  God 
who  will  forgive  you  your  offences  in  the  same  measure  of  compassion 
which  you  will  show  to  the  trespasses  of  others.  Do  not,  in  the 
name  of  that  Heaven  before  whom  every  one  of  us,  whether  land- 
lord, priest,  or  tenant,  must  at  last  appear,  do  not  persecute  these 
poor  people  ;  don't  throw  their  children  out  upon  the  public  road ; 
don't  send  them  forth  to  shiver  and  to  die." 

O'Connell's  triumph  was  complete.  The  Catholics  at 
last  had  a  representative.  He  was  chaired  in  Ennis,  and 
he  was  followed  by  thousands  on  his  route  home.  Even  the 
military  could  not  restrain  their  exultation.  Why  should 
they,  since  so  many  of  them  were  of  his  own  nation  and 
his  own  faith  ?  They  began  to  see  that  they  might  be  some- 
thing more  than  mere  fighting  machines  for  a  nation  who 
condescended  to  accept  their  sword  and  blood  on  the  field 
of  battle,  but  who  denied  them  the  right  to  receive  the  con- 


556      EXCITEMENT  IN  POLITICAL  CIRCLES. 


solation  of  their  religion  as  they  lay  in  the  agony  of 
death.8 

In  England  the  news  of  O'ConnelPs  election  excited 
absolute  consternation.  The  slaves  of  political  bondage  had 
dared  to  assert  themselves.  Very  glorious,  indeed,  it  would 
have  been  had  such  self-assertion  occurred  in  any  other 
country,  or  had  it  been  made  by  any  other  people.  A  fight 
for  liberty,  physically  or  morally,  is  seldom  appreciated  near 
home.  It  was  true,  indeed,  that  the  Irish  had  been  pro- 
mised for  a  long  time  that  "  something  should  be  clone  for 
them."    They  were  to  stay  quiet,  "  perfectly  quiet,"  for  a 


8  The  Duke  of  Wellington,  in  1829,  addressing  the  House  of  Lords  in 
favour  of  Catholic  Emancipation,  observed — "  It  is  already  well  known 
to  your  Lordships,  that  of  the  troops  which  our  gracious  sovereign  did 
me  the  honour  to  entrust  to  my  command  at  various  periods  during  the 
war — a  war  undertaken  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  happy 
institutions  and  independence  of  the  country — that  at  least  one-half  were 
Roman  Catholics.  My  Lords,  when  I  call  your  recollection  to  this  fact, 
I  am  sure  all  further  eulogy  is  unnecessary.  .  .  .  We  must  also  confess 
that,  without  Catholic  blood  and  Catholic  valour,  no  victory  could  ever 
have  been  obtained,  and  the  first  military  talents  in  Europe  might  have 
been  exerted  in  vain  at  the  head  of  an  army.  My  Lords,  if  on  the  eve 
of  any  of  those  hard-fought  days,  on  which  I  had  the  honour  to  com- 
mand them,  I  had  thus  addressed  my  Roman  Catholic  troops  : — '  You 
well  know  that  your  country  either  so  suspects  your  loyalty,  or  so  dis»- 
likes  your  religion,  that  she  has  not  thought  proper  to  admit  you 
amongst  the  ranks  of  her  citizens  ;  if  on  that  account  you  deem  it  an 
act  of  injustice  on  her  part  io  require  you  to  shed  your  blood  in  her 
defence,  you  are  at  liberty  to  withdraw* — I  am  quite  sure,  my  Lords, 
that,  however  bitter  the  recollections  which  it  awakened,  they  would 
have  spurned  the  alternative  with  indignation  ;  for  the  hour  of  danger 
and  glory  is  the  hjur  in  which  the  gallant,  the  generous-hearted  Irish* 


A  PEOTESTAXT  CLUB  ESTABLISHED.  557 


few  years,  and  then,  if  the  whole  affair  was  not  forgotten, 
perhaps  "  the  claim  might  be  considered."  Even  English 
state-men  could  see  the  absurdity  of  this. 

The  news  of  CTConneH's  return  for  Clare  was  received 
in  London  on  the  3d  of  July  1828.  The  indignation  and 
excitement  in  political  circles  was  great.  A  Protestant 
Club  was  established  immediately  in  London,  and  Dr 
Philpottfl  wrote  to  Lord  Colchester,  that  "stringent  condi- 
tions " — whatever  that  might  mean — should  be  imposed  on 
the  Irish  for  their  "  violence," — the  "  violence  "  having 
consisted  solely  in   the  constitutional  exercise  of  their 

man  Lest  knows  his  duty,  and  is  most  determined  to  perform  it.  But 
if,  my  Lords,  it  had  been  otherwise  ;  if  they  had  chosen  to  desert  the 
cause,  .  .  .  the  remainder  of  the  troops  would  undoubtedly  have  main- 
tained the  honour  of  the  British  arms,  yet,  as  I  have  just  said,  no  efforts 
of  theirs  could  ever  have  crowned  us  with  victory.  Yes,  my  Lords,  it  is 
mainly  to  the  Irish  Catholics  that  we  all  owe  our  proud  pre-eminence 
in  our  military  career;  and  that  I,  personally,  am  indebted  for  the 
laurels  with  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  decorate  my  brow— foi  the 
honours  which  you  have  so  bountifully  lavished  on  me,  and  for  the  fair 
fame  (I  prize  it  above  all  other  rewards)  which  my  country,  in  its  gene- 
rous kindness,  has  bestowed  upon  me.  I  cannot  but  feel,  my  Lords, 
that  you  yourselves  have  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  placing  this  heavy 
debt  of  gratitude  upon  me — greater,  perhaps,  than  has  ever  fallen  to  the 
lot  of  any  individual  ;  and,  however  flattering  the  circumstance,  it  often 
places  me  in  a  very  painful  position.  Whenever  I  meet  (and  it  is  almost 
on  everyday  occurrence)  with  any  of  those  brave  men,  who,  in  common 
with  others,  are  the  object  of  this  bill,  and  who  have  so  often  borne  me 
on  the  tide  of  victory  ;  when  I  see  them  still  branded  with  the  imputa- 
tion of  a  divided  allegiance,  still  degraded  beneath  the  lowest  menial, 
and  s'ill  proclaimed  unfit  to  enter  within  the  pale  of  the  constitution, 
I  feel  almost  ashamed  of  the  honours  which  have  been  lavished  upci* 
toe.* 


558     BR  PHILPOTTS  PROPOSES  A   REM  ED  T. 


rights  as  electors.  Parliament  was  accused  of  u  shameful 
neglect ;  "  but  his  Lordship,  a  sharp  practical  man,  bad  wit 
enough  to  see  that  if  the  "elective  franchise"  could  be 
restrained  in  Ireland,  that  this  would  be  the  effective 
remedy  for  all  future  evils.  The  suggestion  had  at  least 
the  merit  of  simplicity ;  for  clearly  if  the  Irish  Catholics 
could  be  deprived  of  a  voice  in  the  choice  of  their  represen- 
tatives, they  would  not  have  selected  one  so  obnoxious  to 
the  English  Protestants.  Pie  was  not  so  much  afraid  of 
the  upper  classes.  He  hoped  they  would  fall  into  the 
standing  course  of  parliamentary  ambition,  and  then  would 
not  trouble  themselves  much  about  the  interests  of  the 
Church.9  Henry  Philpotts  was  an  acute  man,  he  knew 
the  value  of  worldly  advancement,  none  better ;  and  he 
knew  how  such  advancement  would  prove  a  salve  if  not  a 
sedative  to  the  conscience. 

The  bishops  and  the  priests  were  the  great  difficulty. 
They  could  not  be  bribed,  so  a  wily  plan  was  suggested  by 
this  worldly  prelate.  He  proposed  that  an  "  influence  might 
be  acquired  on  the  nomination  of  priests  at  Rome  by  ap- 
pointing a  resident  Minister  there  to  treat  personally  on 
political  concerns."  Few  people,  indeed,  have  suffered  for 
their  faith  as  the  Irish  have  done ;  and  had  this  scheme 
succeeded,  it  would  have  been  the  last  and  the  bitterest 
ingredient  in  their  cup  of  sorrow.    It  was  the  old  battle 


9  "  Life  of  L  ord  Colchester,"  vol.  iii.  p.  577. 


JACK  LAWLESS  AXD   THE  PRIEST. 


559 


between  God  and  Caesar;  and  had  the  Church  been  Caasar's 
Church,  she  must  surely  have  yielded.    The  protection  of 
England  would  have  been  found  a  tempting  bait,  the  very 
prestige  of  England's  name  would  have  influenced  anv 
merely  Erastian  establishment.   Ireland  was  despised  by  the 
world,  England  was  esteemed.    There  was  even  the  further 
temptation  that  a  certain  odour  of  respectability  pervaded 
the  few  English  Catholics  who  had  remained  faithful 
to  their  Church,  because  they  were  English— and,  un- 
happily then,  as  at  a  later  period,  a  few  were  found  who 
thought  first  of  their  nationality,  and  last  of  their  religion. 
But  the  Catholic  faith  is  the  religion  of  all  peoples,  because 
it  is  divine ;  and  even  had  Ireland  been  less  faithful  to  the 
Huly  See,  any  attempt  to  sow  discord  would  have  equally 
failed. 

And  yet  the  priests  were  really  the  "head  pacificators" 
of  Ireland.  Jack  Lawless  weut  on  a  mission  to  the  North, 
and,  with  his  characteristic  recklessness,  contrived  to 
exa-perate  the  Orangemen,  and  afterwards  escape  from 
the  scene  of  discord.  Happily  a  priest  was  with  him,  and 
lie  remained  behind,  and,  by  his  wisdom  and  influence, 
6aved  the  country  from  fearful  bloodshed.1 

1  The  Rev.  Mr  M:Donough,  who  afterwards  emigrated  to  America 
"Mooneys  Lectures  on  Irish  History,"  p.  1284  ;  a  most  valuable  work, 
published  by  P.  Donahoe,  Franklin  Street,  Boston.  Lord  Anglesea 
said  to  Sir  John  Byng  that  "the  Protestants  of  the  North  were  much 
more  violent,  and  likely  to  disturb  the  public  peace,  than  the  Catholic* 
oi  the  South."— Life  of  Lord  Palmerston,  vol.  i.  p.  311. 


560 


OFFICIAL  IRRITATION. 


O'Connell  freely  used  his  "frank"  as  a  member  of 
Parliament,  but  he  did  not  take  his  seat.  It  was  a  time  of 
intense  agitation  and  anxiety  to  all  parties.  The  Brims- 
wickers,  as  the  Protestant  Clubs  now  called  themselves, 
were  acting  with  such  gross  violence  as  to  form  an  un- 
pleasant contrast  to  the  well-ordered  Catholic  Association. 
The  Lord-Lieutenant  declared  that  he  could  keep  the 
country  quite  quiet  for  one  year,  and  no  longer.  He  com- 
plained bitterly  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington  had  only 
sent  him  official  letters,  and  that  he  was  kept  completely  in 
the  dark  as  to  the  plans  of  Government. 

The  Solicitor- General  Doherty  said  he  could  just  keep 
the  country  together  till  Parliament  met,  and  he  would 
"  hand  it  over  to  the  table  of  the  House.2"  A  Protestant 
Archbishop  of  Dublin  talked  about  the  "  insane  "  declara- 
tion of  the  associate  demagogues,  and  the  still  more  insane 
attempts  of  the  leading  demagogue  to  thrust  himself  into 
Parliament.3  The  "  leading  demagogue,"  meanwhile,  went 
on  the  even  tenor  of  his  way.  Lord  Arden  said  that  no 
one  knew  anything:  about  the  state  of  Ireland,  even  if  they 
lived  in  it  like  himself,  but  left  it  to  be  understood  that  he 
was  an  exception;  and  said  also  that  O'Connell  ke}:>t  up 
a  "  continual  ferment."  Lord  Eldon  showed  his  hopeless 
ignorance  of  the  Catholic  religion,  by  saying  that  O'Connell 
would  not  be  allowed  to  take  his  seat  in  the  House,  unless 


2  "  Palmerston,"  vol.  i.  p.  312.  »  "Colchester/'  vol.  iii.  p.  582. 


KING  DAN. 


561 


he  took  the  oaths,  and  that  he  would  not  do  unless  he 
could  get  absolution,  obviously  believing  that  it  would  be 
quite  possible  for  a  man  to  get  absolution  for  taking  a 
solemn  oath  that  his  own  religion  was  blasphemous  and 
idolatrous.  He  declared  that  nothing  was  talked  of  "  which 
interested  anybody  the  least  in  the  world  except  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr  O'Connell  and  the  mischief  it  mast  produce;" 
and  he  had  just  intelligence  enough  to  see,  what  most  in- 
telligent men  saw  very  plainly,  that  i:  the  business  must 
bring  the  Roman  Catholic  question,  which  has  been  so 
often  discussed,  to  a  crisis  and  a  conclusion."  The  crisis 
was  the  debate  on  Emancipation,  and  the  conclusion  was 
the  granting  of  that  act  of  common  justice.4 

In  October  1828,  Lord  Anglesea  issued  a  proclamation 
to  put  down  the  disturbances  in  the  North,  and  at  the 
same  time  O'Connell  issued  a  proclamation  to  put  clown 
faction  fights  in  the  South.  He  was,  indeed,  becoming  the 
uncrowned  kin  %  of  Ireland.  Few  crowned  monarchs  of 
that  country  had  ever  held  such  sway.  He  was  King  Dan 
to  four  millions  of  people,  and  his  word  was  law. 

The  Duke  of 'Wellington  kept  his  opinions  to  himself, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  saw  Catholic  Emancipation 
must  be  granted;  and  once  he  made  up  his  mind,  action 
Boon  followed.  The  Liberal  party,  or,  as  they  were  then 
usually  denominated,  the  Whigs,  were  extremely  angry  to 


4  TwLss's  "Life  of  Eldon,"  voL  iii.  p.  63. 

2  N 


562 


A  SETTLEMENT  DEMANDED. 


find  that  a  Tory  Ministry  was  to  have  the  credit  of  doing 
what  they  should  have  done  if  they  had  had  the  Duke's 

courage. 

At  the  close  of  the  year,  a  declaration  was  drawn  up 
by  the  Duke  of  Leinster,  and  signed  by  two  dukes,  seven 
marquises,  twenty-seven  earls,  seven  viscounts,  twenty- 
two  barons,  fifty-two  members  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
and  upwards  of  two  thousand  gentlemen.  They  asked  for 
a  settlement  of  the  Catholic  claims,  proving  that  the 
astute  Dr  Philpotts  was  not  far  wrong  when  he  said  that 
fully  one-half  the  House  of  Commons  was  in  favour  of 
granting  justice  to  Catholics — though  he  did  not  call 
Emancipation  by  that  name — and  that  nearly  half  the 
Upper  House  were  of  the  same  opinion. 

In  December  1828,  Dr  Curtis,  the  Catholic  Archbishop 
of  Dublin,  who  was  an  old  and  valued  friend  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington,  wrote  to  him  begging  that  he  would 
reconsider  the  state  of  Ireland,  which  was  certainly  most 
alarming,  and  apply  some  remedy.  The  Duke  replied 
promptly  : — 

"  London,  December  11,  1828. 
"  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  4th  instant ; 
and  I  assure  you  that  you  do  me  justice  in  believing  that  I  am 
sincerely  anxious  to  witness  the  settlement  of  the  Koman  Catholic 
question,  which,  by  benefiting  the  State,  would  confer  a  benefit  on 
every  individual  belonging  to  it.  But  I  confess  that  I  see  no  pro- 
spect of  such  a  settlement.  Party  has  been  mixed  up  with  the  con- 
sideration of  the  question  to  such  a  degree,  and  such  violence  per- 
vades every  discussion  of  it,  that  it  is  impossible  to  expect  to  prevail 


WELLINGTON  AND  AXGLESEA. 


563 


upon  men  to  consider  it  dispassionately.  If  we  could  bury  it  in 
oblivion  for  a  short  time,  and  employ  that  time  diligently  in  the 
consideration  of  its  difficulties  on  all  sides  (for  they  are  very  great), 
I  Bhoul  i  not  despair  of  seeing  a  satisfactory  remedy. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  ever  your  most  faithful  humble  servant. 

"  Wellington." 

One  of  the  Archbishop's  curates  was  with  him  at 
breakfast ;  he  obtained  a  copy  of  the  letter,  and  it  ap- 
peared at  once  in  the  papers.  The  sensation  which  it 
created  was  immense.  The  Duke  wrote  an  expostulation 
to  Dr  Curtis,  but  it  was  too  late.  Dr  Curtis  had  enclosed 
the  laconic  epistle  to  Lord  Anglesea,  and  Lord  Angle- 
sea's  reply  soon  found  its  way  to  the  papers  also.  He 
recommended  the  Catholics  to  persevere  in  constitutional 
agitation  ;  and  for  this  letter  he  was  at  once  recalled. 
On  his  departure,  he  received  such  an  ovation  from  the 
Irish  as  had  never  been  granted  to  any  other  representa- 
tive of  royalty.5 

5  Lord  Anglesea  was  very  unpopular  during  his  second  term  of  office. 
Mr  O  Xeil  Daunt  says  : — "  During  his  second  viceroyalty  he  became  one 
day  the  subject  of  conversation  in  O'ConneH's  house.  1  Poor  Anglesea  ! ' 
«aid  O'Connell  ;  'the  unfortunate  man  was  not  wicked,  but  misguided.' 
*  That  is  exactly  what  he  says  of  you,'  replied  N.  P.  O'Gorman.  '  One  day 
I  visited  him  he  said  to  me  :  "  That  unfortunate  O'Connell  means  well, 
but  he  is  misguided  !*'  O'Connell  laughed  heartily.  1  Certainly/  said 
he,  1  Lord  Anglesea  was  wonderfully  weak  and  misinformed.  Only  con- 
ceive his  gravely  assuring  the  British  Government  that  I  had  little  or  no 
influence  in  Ireland  ! ' "  Though  Lord  Anglesea  was  so  popular  once, 
he  never  travelled  without  a  "  life  preserver."  On  one  occasion  he  went 
to  dine  with  Lord  Concurry,  but  would  not  take  an  escort.  The  car- 
riage was  ordered  early,  as  it  was  not  considered  prudent  to  be  late  on  the 


564 


ALLEGED  POLICY  OF  THE  DUKE. 


The  Duke's  letter  proved  him  to  be  a  greater  adept  at  tha 
sword  than  at  the  pen.  The  idea  of  "  burying  a  subject  in 
oblivion  "  6  while  it  was  being  diligently  discussed,  could 
not  fail  to  provoke  a  laugh.  It  is  said  that  the  Duke  had 
private  knowledge  that  George  IV.  was  near  his  end ;  that 
at  his  death  one  great  obstacle  would  be  removed  ;  and  that 
he  desired  to  keep  matters  quiet  until  that  event  took  place. 
Whatever  his  motive  or  intentions  may  have  been,  the 
following  sentences  were  inserted  in  the  king's  speech  on 
the  4th  February  1829  :— 

"  His  Majesty  laments  that  in  that  part  of  the  United  Kingdom 
(Ireland)  an  association  still  exists  which  is  dangerous  to  the  public 


road.  At  the  last  moment  Lord  Anglesea's  "  stick  "  could  not  be  found, 
and  he  positively  refused  to  leave  without  it.  No  one  had  noticed  it 
positively,  but  it  was  at  last  found  in  a  summer-house  where  he  had 
spent  the  afternoon.  When  the  carriage  moved  off  Lord  Anglesea 
touched  a  spring  and  the  slide  flew  open,  showing  a  most  formidable 
rapier.  The  handle  concealed  a  pocket-pistol,  into  which  was  inserted 
a  dagger-shaped  blade  covered  with  a  guard.  This  formidable  weapon 
was  given  to  him  by  the  Duke  of  York,  who  had  a  number  of  them  pre- 
pared for  himself  and  his  friends  after  the  discovery  of  the  Thistlewood 
conspiracy." — Chiefs  of  Parties,  Maddyn,  vol.  i.  pp.  160-8. 
*  The  Times  of  the  day  had  a  good  squib  on  the  subject  :— 

**  To  catch  the  banker  all  have  sought, 

But  still  the  rogue  unhurt  is  ; 
While  t'other  juggler— who 'd  have  thought?— 
Though  slippery  long,  has  just  I  sen  caught, 

By  old  Archbishop  Curtis. 
And,  such  the  power  of  Papal  crook, 

The  crosier  scarce  had  quivered 
About  his  ears,  when,  lo  !  the  Duke 

Was  of  a  bull  delivered." 

— Life  and  Times  of  JDr  Boyle,  vol.  ii.  p.  109, 


THE  KING'S  SPEECH. 


565 


peace.  .  .  .  His  Majesty  feels  assured  that  you  will  commit  to  him 
such  powers  as  may  enable  him  to  maintain  his  just  authority.  His 
Majesty  recommends  that,  when  this  essential  object  shall  have  been 
Accomplished,  you  should  take  into  your  deliberate  consideration 
the  whole  condition  of  Ireland,  and  that  you  should  revise  the 
laws  which  impose  disabilities  on  His  Majesty's  Roman  Catholic 
Bubjects." 

This  startling  announcement  was  followed  by  a  salve  to 
the  Protestant,  as  it  had  been  preceded  by  a  threat  to  the 
Catholic.  The  Duke  manifestly  knew  how  to  make  a 
royal  speech  better  than  bow  to  word  a  private  epistle. 

"  You  will  consider  whether  the  removal  of  these  disabilities  can 
be  effected  consistently  with  the  full  and  permanent  security  of  our 
Establishments  in  Church  and  State,  with  the  maintenance  of  the  Re- 
formed Religion  established  by  law,  and  of  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  the  bishops  and  of  the  clergy  of  this  nation,  and  of  the  churches 
committed  to  their  charge." 

The  publication  of  this  speech  convulsed  the  country  from 
one  end  to  the  other.  The  "  glorious  constitution  "  was 
in  danger,  the  Pope  would  be  King  of  Ireland,  the  Protes- 
tants would  be  massacred,  the  Duke  was  in  league  with  the 
priests.  Nothing  was  too  absurd  to  be  said,  and  nothing 
was  too  absurd  to  be  believed  by  men  who  had  allowed  their 
prejudices  to  run  away  with  their  common  sense.7 

In  the  debate  on  the  address,  in  answer  to  the  speech 
from  the  throne,  Lord  Eldon  declared  "  that  if  ever  a 
Roman  Catholic  was  permitted  to  form  part  of  the  Legis- 

'  «  Life  Df  the  Duke  of  Wellington/'  by  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Glerg,  p.  4Gv>. 
Yonge's  "  Life  of  Wellington,"  vol.  hi.  pp.  171-180. 


566 


EMANCIPATION  ACHIEVED. 


lature  of  this  country,  from  that  moment  the  sun  of  Great 
Britain  would  set."8  So  tenacious  is  prejudice,  that  if  he 
had  lived  to  the  present  day,  facts  to  the  contrary  would 
not  have  changed  his  opinion. 

The  Duke  of  Cumberland  declared  that  if  the  king  gave 
his  assent  to  Catholic  Emancipation,  he  would  leave  the 
country  never  to  return  to  it  again.9 

The  bill  passed  through  both  Houses  with  extremely 
large  majorities,  that  in  the  Upper  House  being  213  against 
109  ;  but  the  king's  signature  was  still  necessary,  and  was 
not  obtained  without  some  difficulty.  The  truth  was,  that 
he  only  yielded  to  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  which  he 
could  not  withstand;  and  exclaimed  petulantly,  "  The  Duke 
of  Wellington  is  king  of  England,  O'Connell  is  king  of 
Ireland,  and  I  suppose  I  am  only  Dean  of  Windsor." 
The  royal  assent  was  given  on  the  13th  of  April  1829. 

A  clause  was  introduced  into  the  Act,  manifestly  to  annoy 
O'Connell,  that  no  Catholic  could  take  his  seat  unless  he 
should  be  elected  "  after  the  commencement  of  the  Act." 
O'Connell  hoped  to  evade  the  difficulty  b}r  offering  Sir 
Edward  Denny  £3000  for  one  of  his  boroughs,  but  the 
offer  was  refused.    O'Connell  therefore  determined  to  claiia 


8  "  Life  of  Lord  Eldon,"  vol.  iii.  p.  63. 

9  Letter  from  the  Eight  Honourable  T.  Grenvilleto  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham. He  adds,  "  A  declaration  to  that  effect  may  produce  a  very 
general  chrer  even  in  the  dignified  assembly  of  the  House  of  Lords,"— 
Memoirs  cf  George  IV.  vol.  ii.  p.  393. 


REFUSED  A  SEAT  IN  THE  HOUSE. 


his  own  seat,  and  presented  himself  for  that  purpose  at  the 
bar  of  the  House  on  the  15th  of  May.  His  appearance  was 
expected,  and  made  an  immense  sensation.  He  was  intro- 
duced by  Lords  Dungannon  and  Ebrington. 

The  following  extract,  from  the  next  issue  of  the 
Times,  gives  the  best  contemporary  account  of  the  whole 
affair  : — 

"  The  attempt  was  made  by  Mr  O'Connell  last  night  to  take  his 
seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  aLd  the  narrative  of  the  proceeding 
will  be  read  with  interest  in  our  parliamentary  report.  Yet  that 
can  convey  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  silent,  the  almost  breathless 
attention  with  which  he  was  received  in  the  House,  advancing  to 
and  retiring  from  the  table.  The  benches  were  filled  in  an  unusual 
degree  with  members,  and  there  is  no  recollection  of  so  large  a 
number  of  peers  brought  by  curiosity  into  the  House  of  Commons. 
The  hon.  gentleman  was  introduced  by  Lords  Dungannon  and 
Ebrington  ;  a  perfect  stillness  ensued.  By  his  action  he  evidently 
declined  the  first  oath  which  was  tendered  to  him — that  of  supre- 
macy and  allegiance — and  required  the  oath  prescribed  by  the  late 
Act.  The  explanation  by  the  Speaker  to  the  House  of  what  had 
taken  place  was  clear,  his  expression  of  countenance  and  manner 
towards  the  hon.  gentleman  on  whom  he  fixed  his  regards  extremely 
courteous,  and  his  declaration  that  '  he  must  withdraw/  firm  and 
author  itative.  Mr  O'Connell  for  a  moment  looked  round,  as  one  who 
had  reason  to  expect  support,  and  this  failing,  he  bowed  most  re- 
spectfully and  withdrew.  After  his  departure,  Mr  Brougham  spoke, 
but  in  a  somewhat  subdued  tone;  some  discussion  followed,  but  tha 
debate  on  the  subject  is  fixed  for  Monday  next." 

O'Connell  expected  to  have  been  heard  at  the  bar  of  the 
House  on  this  occasion,  but  he  was  refused. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  Peel  proposed  that  he  should  be 


668   ADDRESS  AT  THE  BAR  OF  THE  HOUSE. 


allowed  that  privilege,  and  on  the  following  day  he  ap- 
peared at  the  bar  of  the  House,  attended  by  Mr  Pierce 
Mahony,  his  solicitor.  The  House  was  so  crowded  that 
many  peers  were  unable  to  obtain  seats  in  the  space  al- 
lotted to  them  under  the  gallery.  The  Duke  of  Sussex  was 
there  listening  with  breathless  attention  to  every  word 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  "Irish  agitator; "  and  when 
O'Connell  returned  to  his  place,  after  a  most  masterly 
speech,  he  found  it  occupied  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  who 
next  year  ascended  the  French  throne  as  Louis  Philippe, 
Mr  Mahony's  seat  being  occupied  by  his  son,  the  Due  de 
Chartres,  both  of  whom  congratulated  O'Connell  on  his 
position  and  his  success. 

As  it  was  a  question  of  law,  Sir  N.  Tindal,  the  Solicitor- 
General,  rose  to  reply,  and  he  opened  his  speech  by  passing 
an  evidently  sincere  compliment  to  O'Connell.1  His  ad- 
dress, indeed,  deserved  all  the  praise  it  received,  but  one 
part  was  especially  telling,  and  was  cheered  loudly  by  the 
Whig  party,  although  such  manifestations  of  applause 
were  not  usual  on  such  occasions.  After  he  had  presented 
all  the  arguments  in  his  favour,  he  said,  "  I  cannot  give 
any  other  construction  to  the  enactments  of  this  statute; 
for  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  a  great  nation,  and  the 
Gc  vernment  of  a  great  nation,  could  combine  witli  a  measure 
of  national  justice  like  this  an  act  of  outlawry  against  an 

1  The  Attorney-General,  Sir  C.  Wetheral,  had  resigned  his  seat  on 
the  first  introduction  of  the  Emancipation  Bill. 


DECLINES  TO  TAKE  TEE  OATH. 


individual,  solely  because  that  individual  devoted  himself 
heart  and  soul  to  the  obtaining  of  this  great  measure  of 
national  justice  for  himself  and  his  fellow-countrymen." 
The  dignity,  tact,  and  temper  of  this  rebuke  was  admir- 
able, and  was  in  perfect  keeping  with  his  manner  and 
matter  throughout. 

On  the  following  day  O'Connell  appeared  at  the  bar  for 
the  third  time,  and  was  told  by  the  Speaker  that  he  could 
not  take  his  seat  unless  he  took  the  oath  of  supremacy. 

"'Are  you  willing  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy?'  asked  the 
Speaker. 

11 '  Allow  me  to  look  at  it,'  replied  O'Connell. 

"  The  oath  was  handed  to  O'Connell,  and  be  looked  at  it  in  sil- 
ence for  a  few  seconds;  then  raising  bis  bead,  he  said,  1  In  this 
oath  I  see  one  assertion  as  to  a  matter  of  fact,  which  I  hioiv  to  be 
untrue.  I  see  a  second  assertion  as  to  a  matter  of  opinion,  which 
I  Ld icve  to  be  untrue.    I  therefore  refuse  to  take  this  oath.' " 

O'Connell  at  once  wrote  his  second  address  to  the  elec- 
tors of  Clare,  and  boasted,  as  well  he  might,  that  they  had 
conquered  the  Government.  He  told  his  constituents  that 
they  had  "  converted  Peel  and  conquered  Wellington."  It 
is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  no  man  ever  achieved  such  a 
moral  victory,  and  that  the  Catholics  of  the  present  day 
owe  to  his  boldness  and  courage  the  position  they  hold 
in  the  British  Legislature.  If  O'Connell  had  not  risen  in 
his  might  to  do  as  well  as  to  dare,  it  is  not  improbable 
tl  at  Catholics  might  still  be  timidly  petitioning  for  relief, 
instead  of  enjoying  the  liberty  of  free-born  subjects. 


57,  A  NO  THE?.   ELECT! OX  NECESSARY. 


The  papers  of  the  day  were  unusually  full  of  the  event. 
The  Times  had  a  leader  on  the  subject,  which  was  con- 
gratulatory.2 

It  was  perfectly  well  known  in  England  that  O'Connell 
would  be  re-elected  for  Clare,  and  anything  almost  wag 
preferred  to  a  second  exhibition  of  the  national  strength 
and.  national  opinion.  The  Times  of  May  18  spoke 
severely  of  the  wording  of  the  Act,  and  hinted  that  it  was 
not  creditable  to  the  "  sincerity,"  and  certainly  not  to  the 
"sagacity,"  of  its  author;  and  concluded  that  "  His 
Majesty's  Ministers  must  deeply  regret  the  necessity  they 
caused  for  another  Clare  election." 

Reports  had  already  reached  London  that  O'Connell 
would  be  returned  without  opposition  and  without  expense. 
He  wrote  himself  to  Mr  Roche,  on  the  22d  of  May,  aIaia 
determined  to  contest  Clare,  which  I  will  now,  even  if  1 
was  undetermined  before  I  got  your  kindest  note.  Mv 
accounts  thence  are  most  favourable."  3 

The  Brunswick  Clubs  had  their  paper,  called  the  Bruns- 

2  "  It  will  be  a  gratification  to  him,  or  at  least  an  abatement  of  his  dis- 
appointment, to  observe  that  his  exclusion  does  not  arise  from  private 
opposition,  from  personal  pique,  or  petty  spite  (which  we  dreaded),  but 
is  the  result  of  a  candid  discussion  of  the  question.  We  should  have 
been  more  contented  if  a  case  (and  that  thought  by  some  eminent 
authorities  a  doubtful  one),  which,  by  the  nature  of  things,  could  not  be 
drawn  into  a  precedent,  had  been  slurred  over,  and  the  honourable 
gen  tleman  had  been  permitted  to  slip  into  the  House  through  the  open- 
ing which  was  made  between  the  old  and  new  law." 

3  "  Roche's  Essays,"  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 


SUPERIORITY  TO  ABUSE  AND  RIDICULE.  571 


wick  Star,  and  it  lavished  abuse  and  ridicule,  both  in  prose 
and  in  execrable  verse ;  but  the  great  chieftain  went  on 
the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  taking  it  all  for  what  it  was 
worth,  vox  et  prccterea  nihil.  He  looked  for  fame  in 
another  place,  and  under  other  circumstances.  Even  his 
own  countrymen,  and  those  who  honoured  him  most,  had 
scarcely  fathomed  the  depths  of  this  mans  religious  mind, 
or  suspected  the  source  of  his  high  principles  of  action. 
It  is  impossible  in  the  present  work  to  give  details  of 
his  inner  life;  but  no  history  of  him,  however  brief, 
would  be  complete  without  some  allusion  to  this  subject. 
The  following  letter,  which  he  addressed  to  the  Rev. 
Father  O'Meara,  shows  the  source  from  whence  his 
sr length  was  obtained,  and  the  motives  which  actuated 
him  : — 

"  Confidential. 
"19  Bury  Stheet,  St  James',  18^  March  1829. 

"  Rev.  AND  DEAR  Sir, — I  am  standing  counsel  for  the  friars,  so 
that  you  owe  ine  no  apology  nor  any  thanks  for  attending  to  any 
affairs  of  yours.  My  fee  is  paid  by  one  moment  of  recollection  of 
me  occasionally  in  the  pure  and  Holy  Sacrifice. 

"  I  have  the  happiness  to  tell  you  the  proposed  law  is  one  which 
has  been  well  described  as  a  class  by  the  celebrated  jurist  Benthaiu 
in  one  word,  unexecutable—thrt.  is,  that  can  never  be  executed. 
This  is  literally  one  of  those  laws.  It  is  insolent  enough  in  its  pre- 
tensions. It  will  be,  and  must  be,  totally  inefficient  in  practice, 
for  these  reasons— 1st,  There  is  no  power  at  all  given  to  magistrates 
to  interfere  in  this  subject,  nor  any  jurisdiction  whatsoever  given 
to  magistrates  in  that  respect.  2dly,  No  private  person  can  pro- 
secute  any  friar  or  monk  ;   nobody  can  do  it  but  the  Attorney. 


572 


RECEIVED  AS  A  CONQUEROR. 


General,  so  that  you  are  thus  free  from  private  malice.  3dly,  The 
person  prosecuted — that  is,  if  any  friar  or  monk  be  prosecuted,  he 
is  not  bound  to  disclose  anything,  or  to  say  one  word,  but  simply  to 
allow  his  attorney  to  plead  nil  debet  to  the  information.  Thus  you 
see  nobody  will  be  obliged  to  accuse  himself.  This  will  put  the 
prosecutor  on  his  proofs.  Now,  4thly,  The  prosecutor  will  have 
nobody  to  prove  his  case,  because,  mark,  there  is  a  penalty  on  all 
persons  assisting  at  the  taking  of  the  vows  ;  therefore  if  any  of 
these  persons  be  examined  as  witnesses,  they  can  with  perfect  safety 
object  to  give  evidence,  and  totally  refuse,  lest  they  should  convict 
themselves. 

"  Thus  you  see  that  it  is  almost  impossible  any  prosecution 
should  be  instituted  at  all ;  and  it  is  quite  impossible  that  any  pro- 
secution should  be  successful.  Besides,  the  existing  class  of  friars 
are  all  legalised ;  my  advice,  therefore,  decidedly  is,  that  the  friars 
should  keep  quiet.  Let  this  Act  take  its  course,  recollecting,  also, 
that  you  will  have  Catholic  members  in  Parliament  before  the  time 
comes  to  give  these  laws  any  effect  even  in  point  of  form. 

"  Go  on  with  your  building  and  prosper.  Be  so  good  as  put  down 
my  name  for  £50.  I  will  give  it  to  you  when  I  arrive  in  Cork. 
Regretting  I  cannot  afford  to  give  more,  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
with  sincere  respect,  your  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 

"  Daniel  O  Connell. 

"  To  Rev.  W.  A.  O'Meara, 

Franciscan  Convent,  Cork." 

O'Connell  was  received  in  Ireland  as  conqueror.  As  he 
passed  down  to  Clare  the  people  crowded  round  him  with 
shouts  of  triumph ;  at  night  the  town  was  illuminated. 
He  arrived  in  Limerick  at  eight  in  the  morning.  The 
fatigue  was  too  great  even  for  the  herculean  frame  of  the 
"  Agitator,"  and  he  was  obliged  to  rest  for  a  few  hours. 
Then  he  came  out  to  the  people  and  began  his  address,  as 


WILLIAM  SMITH  O'BRIEN'. 


573 


usual,  with  the  query,  "  How  is  Andy  Watson?4  The 
Limerick  tradesmen  had  assembled  with  flags  and  banners ; 
the  Limerick  people  had  assembled  in  their  thousands,  and, 
witli  cheers  and  shouts,  escorted  O'Connell  out  on  the 
Emu's  road.  As  he  neared  the  town  of  victory  he  was  met 
by  another  multitude,  who  brought  a  triumphal  car  with 
them,  and  on  this  he  was  driven  into  the  city. 

The  forty-shilling  freeholders  had  ceased  to  vote,  and 
O'Connell  had  now  to  deal  with  a  new  class,  the  ten-pound 
freeholders.  But  there  was  more.  He  had  to  console  or 
satisfy  those  who  lost  their  votes,  and  he  had  to  propitiate 
those  who  gained.    But  he  was  equal  to  the  occasion. 

William  Smith  O'Brien  now  appeared  in  public  for  the 
first  time.  He  opposed  O'Connell,  and  declared  that  he 
had  hindered  instead  of  helping  the  Catholic  cause.  He 
quoted  the  old  arguments,  which  are  now  and  then  adduced 
even  at  the  present  day.  He  had  the  temerity  to  declare 
that  the  English  were  disgusted  by  O'Connell's  agitation, 
and  that  if  he  had  not  agitated,  Emancipation  would  have 
been  granted  long  before.    He  forgot,  or  he  did  not  find  it 

*  Andy  Watson  was  the  editor  of  the  local  Tory  paper.  See  "  His- 
tory of  Limerick/'  by  Maurice  Lenihan,  Esq.,  J.P.,  p.  482.  Undoubt- 
edly one  great  element  of  O'Connell's  success  was  Ins  tact  in  adapting 
himself  to  circumstances.  When  he  visited  a  town  or  village,  a  court- 
house or  drawing-room,  he  at  once  made  himself  perfectly  aw  cour.mi  of 
what  was  going  on,  and  then,  with  consummate  tact,  he  availed  himself 
of  his  information.  This  gift  of  adaptability  is  one  which  few  public 
men  possess,  but  those  who  do  possess  it  are  generally  masters  of  the 
eituation. 


674 


THE  CRITIC  FLY. 


convenient  to  remember,  that  both  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
and  Mr  Feel  had  admitted  that  the  consideration  of  the 
Catholic  claims  was  the  result  of  fear.  If  O'Connell  had  not 
roused  up  a  spirit  in  Ireland  which  had  made  them  fear,  and 
if  he  had  not  originated  a  clamour  which  English  mem- 
bers of  Parliament  could  not  help  hearing,  it  is  impossible 
to  say  how  much,  longer  justice  would  have  been  deferred. 
There  will  always  be  a  certain  class  of  men  who  will  attack 
success.  They  cannot  deny  a  fact,  but  they  at  once  pretend, 
with  the  most  daring  unconsciousness  of  their  own  preten- 
sions, to  show  how  that  fact  could  have  happened  without 
the  intervention  of  the  person  who  accomplished  it.  They 
make  a  votive  offering  to  their  own  sagacity,  and  would 
have  men  believe  that  they  should  have  been  the  authors 
of  the  success,  only  that  they  were  not,  from  fault  of  cir- 
cumstances with  which  they  did  not  choose  to  contend. 
They  may  find  a  few  jealous  individuals  to  applaud  them 
or  rejoice  in  their  theory,  but  the  historians  of  the  future 
will  give  a  very  different  verdict. 

O'Connell  proceeded  at  once  to  expose  the  origin  of  this 
feeling,  which  was  not  very  creditable.  Steele  attacked 
O'Brien  personally  (in  private).  The  result  was  a  hostile 
meeting  at  Kilburn  in  London.  Shots  were  exchanged, 
and  Mr  O'Biien  expressed  himself  satisfied  through  his 
second.  But  Steele  had  prepared  himself  for  a  campaign, 
and  would  have  gone  on  until  one  or  both  were  on 
the  ground,  if  O'Gorman  Mahon  had  not  come  forward 


OUTWITTED,  BUT  NOT  OUTVOTED. 


575 


and  expressed  a  wish  to  have  an  "  affair  of  honour  "  on  hia 
account.  They  were  not  Clare  men,  and  considered  that 
Smith  O'Brien  had  cast  an  imputation  upon  them  by 
assert  ing  that  none  of  the  Clare  "  gentlemen "  had  sup- 
ported O'Connell.  Smith  O'Brien  seems  to  have  been 
satisfied  with  his  escape,  for  he  declared  that  he  had  not 
included  Mr  0' Gorman  Mahon  in  the  obnoxious  expres- 
sion. 

O'Connell  ran  up  from  Ennis  to  Dublin,  and  found  him- 
self in  an  unpleasant  position.  A  pugilistic  attorney, 
known  as  Toby  Glascock,  threatened  to  tight  O'Connell; 
and  finding  that  O'Connell  would  not  fight,  threatened  to 
make  his  servant  horsewhip  him.  This  man  was  generally 
supposed  to  be  deficient  in  intellect,  and  for  this  very  reason 
O'Connell  thought  it  advisable  to  have  him  bound  over  to 
keep  the  peace.  He  appeared  in  court  for  the  purpose. 
Mr  Glascock  declared  that  his  own  size  (he  was  a  small 
man)  should  have  saved  O'Connell  from  any  apprehension, 
and  he  offered  to  produce  his  servant.  He  dived  under  the 
attorney's  table,  lifted  up  a  large  bag,  untied  the  strings, 
shook  out.  the  comers,  and  tumbled  out  a  little  black  boy  on 
the  table,  clothed  in  green  livery,  and  grinning  from  ear  to 
ear.  The  court  was  convulsed  with  laughter,  and  for  once 
in  his  long  career  O'Connell  found  the  joke  against  him. 

O'Connell  was  returned  for  Clare  for  the  second  time 
on  the  30th  of  July  1829;  and  wherever  he  went,  he 
was  again  received  by  the  people  with  the  wildest  cnthu- 


576         REST  HENCEFORTH  DENIED  HIM. 


Piasm.  He  needed  a  time  of  rest  after  this  long  period  oi 
excitement  and  heavy  labour,  and  repaired  for  this  purpose 
to  his  ancestral  home  at  Darrynane.  But  rest  was  not 
for  him  in  this  world.  He  was  the  defender  of  the 
people's  rights,  as  well  as  the  king  of  the  people's  hearts ; 
and  wherever  those  rights  were  in  danger,  0' Council  was 
found  at  his  post. 

The  Liberator  was  always  an  early  riser,  and  as  he 
looked  out  of  his  bedroom  window  on  a  Sunday  morning 
in  October  1829,  he  saw  a  man  on  horseback  approaching 
his  house  with  a  haste  which  indicated  business.  O'Con- 
nell  went  to  him  at  once.  His  story  was  soon  told.  A 
conspiracy  had  been  got  up  against  the  Catholics  of  Done- 
raile,  and  a  number  of  men,  some  in  the  most  respectable 
positions,  were  accused  of  an  attempt  to  murder  their  Pro- 
testant neighbours.  Several  men  had  already  been  found 
guilty,  and  others  were  waiting  their  trial  in  Cork.  Wil- 
liam Burke — his  name  deserves  to  be  recorded — had  set 
off  the  previous  evening,  and  had  ridden  without  stopping 
X  journey  of  twenty  Irish  miles,  to  secure  the  services  of 
O'Connell.  "  If  you  don't  undertake  their  defence,"  ex- 
claimed the  man,  "  Pennefather  and  Doherty  will  hang 
every  man  of  them,  though  they  are  as  innocent  as  the 
unborn." 

O'Connell  was  soon  in  Cork.  Burke  rested  only  for  two 
hours,  and  then  set  off  to  let  his  friends  know  that  tha 
Liberator  was  on  the  way.    Relays  of  men  were  stationed 


THE  PROSECUTOR  PANICS TRICKEN.  577 

all  along  the  road,  with  fresh  fleet  horses,  to  meet  Burke 
on  his  return,  so  as  to  fly  on  at  once  with  the  news.  At 
eight  o'clock  on  the  following  morning  Burke  arrived  back 
in  Cork,  and  two  hours  later  O'Connell  was  at  the  Court- 
house. His  appearance  gave  an  electric  shock  to  the 
Attorney-General,  who,  it  is  said,  turned  white  with  anger 
and  apprehension. 

O'Connell  did  not  wait  even  to  get  food;  he  asked  per- 
mission of  the  Court  to  have  his  breakfast  brought  to  him  ; 
and  while  Mr  Doherty  opened  his  address,  he  demolished  a 
large  bowl  of  milk  and  some  sandwiches.6  From  time  to 
time,  as  the  case  proceeded,  he  would  start  up  and  exclaim, 
"  That 's  not  law,  sir."  As  O'Connell  never  made  an  asser- 
tion of  this  kind  unless  he  was  sure  of  its  correctness,  the 
Court  was  with  him,  and  the  Attorney- General  was  not  a 
little  discomposed.  It  was,  however,  by  his  skill  in  cross- 
examination  that  O'Connell  brought  out  the  truth.  A 
man  named  Nowlan  was  the  principal  informer,  and 
when  he  had  been  driven  to  contradict  himself  again  and 
again,  he  roared  out,  "  It's  little  I  thought  I'd  have  to 
meet  you  here,  Mr  O'Connell." 

The  informer's  statement  was  that  a  certain  number  of 
men  had  met  in  a  tent  at  the  fair  of  Rathclare,  and  that  they 
had  signed  a  paper  declaring  that  one  of  those  gentlemen 

5  OConnell  was  a  voracious  eater.  Like  most  men  who  exeiv.ise 
their  brain  much,  he  was  obliged  to  proportion  the  supply  of  physic*] 
inaieiial  to  the  clem  an  1  for  mental  effort 

2  0 


578 


ACQUITTAL  OF  THE  ACCUSED. 


on  whom  they  had  designs  should  be  shot.  A  gentle- 
man farmer  named  Leary  was  sworn  against  as  the  prin- 
cipal promoter  of  this  diabolical  scheme.  He  was  tried 
with  five  other  men,  who  were  all  sentenced  to  be  hanged 
in  seven  days,  though  his  own  landlord,  a  gentleman  of  high 
respectability,  to  whom  he  paid  £250  per  annum  in  repi, 
declared  his  moral  certainty  of  the  man's  innocence,  liaron 
Pennefather  seems  to  have  had  his  doubts,  for  he  ordered 
the  information  taken  before  the  magistrates  to  be  sent  for, 
and  it  was  found  that  not  one  word  was  said  in  them  of  the 
tent  scene.  He  called  O'Connell  to  him,  and  showed  him 
the  papers,  pointing  out  the  omission.  O'Connell  was  not 
slow  to  take  the  hint,  and  it  soon  became  evident  how 
much  false  swearing  there  had  been.  The  Solicitor-General 
talked  about  "  false  facts  ; "  but  O'Connell  detected  the 
blunder.  "  False  facts,  Mr  Solicitor  !  How  can  facts  be 
false  ?"  "I  have  known  false  facts  and  false  men," 
growled  the  representative  of  royalty.  Doherty  had  an 
English  pronunciation  which  was  either  natural  or  acquired* 
"  You  may  go  down,  sir,"  he  said  to  a  witness.  "  Naw, 
daunt  go  down,  sir,"  said  O'Connell,  and  set  the  Court  in 
a  roar. 

The  result  was  the  acquittal  of  all  the  prisoners ;  but 
the  unhappy  men  who  had  been  sentenced  to  be  hanged  on 
the  informer's  evidence  were,  as  a  great  favour,  only  trans' 
ported  for  life. 


PARLIAMENTARY  LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE. 
1829-1839. 

FES  WATERFORD  ELECTION — MONTALEMBERT  AND  o'CONNELL — LETTERS  TO  THH 
PEOPLE  OP  IRELAND — LORD  LEVESON  GOWER — PALMERSTON  AND  WELLING- 
TON—HISTORY  AND  POLITICS — THE  EMANCIPATION  ACT  NOT  FOLLOWED  BY 
THE  MILLENNIUM — EXASPERATION  OF  THE  ORANGEMEN  AND  DISTRESS  AMONG 
THE  PEASANTRY — TEMPORARY  ARREST  OF  o'CONNELL — LETTER  TO  DR  MAC- 
HALE —  ANTI-TITHE  RIOTS  —  IN  PARLIAMENT  —  LORD  ALTHORPE  AND 
SHI  EL — O'CONNELL'S  MOTION  FOR  REPEAL — CATHEDRALS — LETTER — MEL- 
BOURNE AND  O'CONNELL — DISRAELI  AND  THE  o'CONNELLS — LETTER — ■ 
LYNDHUKST's  ATTACK  ON  THE  IRISH — BANQUETS — SPEECH  OF  DR  MACHALE — 
LETTER — o'CONNELL  UNDERTAKES  A  RETREAT — RECEPTION  AT  THE  ABEEI 

— *£njeas— entertained  in  London — defies  the  house— letters. 


the  close  of  the  year  1829, 
O'ConneJ]    had  considerable 
annoyance    from    the  public 
journals,  and  especially  from 
the    Times,  which    he  repaid 
with  interest.     The  Beresford 
family  had  always  been  con- 
sidered the  hereditary  foes  of  the  Irish  people, 
and  undoubtedly  they  made  their  own  interest 
the  prominent  object  in  their  Irish  policy.  The 
county  of  Waterford  was  vacant,  and  the  family 
decided  on  putting  Lord  George  Beresford  into 
the  vacant  seat — if  they  could.    But  Irish  elec- 
tions were  not  now  what  they  used  to  be.  The 
return  of  O'Connell  for  Clare  had  given  the 


082   A  RETAINER  ACCEPTED  AND  DECLINED. 


people  a  taste  for  independence,  and  there  was  at  least 
an  apprehension  they  might  begin  to  consider  their  votes 
their  own.  The  Beresford  family  were  wise  in  their 
generation.  They  secured  the  services  of  Mr  Mahony 
as  their  counsel,  and,  through  Mr  Mahony,  they  thought 
to  secure  the  services  of  O'Connell  and  Shi  el.  To  O'Con- 
nell  they  offered  a  fee  of  £600,  which  was  a  good  sum  for 
him,  and  a  small  outlay  for  them,  the  seat  having  cost  the 
family  £35,000  in  1826.  O'Connell  was  in  Clare  when  he 
received  the  offer,  and  was  at  first  disposed  to  accept  it. 

One  of  his  first  objects — an  object  which  he  kept  steadily 
and  constantly  before  him — was  to  amalgamate  all  classes 
and  creeds  of  Irishmen.  This  seemed  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity; and  in  his  reply  to  Mr  Mahony,  he  said,  "  I  am 
exceedingly  delighted  at  the  offer  made  me,  as  it  proves 
that  the  memory  of  former  dissensions  is  to  be  buried  in 
oblivion."  He  said,  further,  that  he  would  accept  the 
retainer,  if  it  was  understood  that  his  political  principles 
and  opinions  should  not  be  compromised  in  any  way.  The 
Beresford  family  were  more  than  satisfied ;  it  was  some- 
Ihing  even  not  to  have  O'Connell  against  them.  On  con- 
sideration, however,  O'Connell  wrote  again  to  Mr  Mahony 
and  declined.  In  the  meantime  the  Times  had  got  hold  of 
the  story,  and  renewed  its  previous  opposition  to  O'Connell 
by  attacking  him  for  what  he  had  not  done.  O'Conneirs 
reply  was  marked  by  length  of  invective  rather  than 
courteous  denial. 


WHAT  NEXT1? 


583 


In  the  commencement  of  the  year  1830  the  Liberator 
addressed  a  number  of  letters  to  the  people  of  Ireland,  and 
opened  a  "  Parliamentary  office"  for  the  furtherance  of 
petitions  to  the  Legislature. 

It  was  a  most  critical  period  of  Irish  history — a  supreme 
moment  at  which  peace  waited  to  spread  her  wings  over 
the  two  countries,  and  unite  them,  not  merely  in  name, 
but  in  fact.  After  long  delay,  which  almost  deprived  it  of 
its  freshness,  the  olive-branch  was  held  out  by  England, 
but  scarcely  had  Ireland  grasped  the  peaceful  emblem  ere 
it  was  followed  by  a  thunderbolt  of  impotent  rage. 

O'Oonnell's  fame  was  now  European.  When  the  King  of 
Belgium  was  elected,  three  votes  were  given  for  O'ConnelL 
France  was  agitated  to  its  very  centre,  and  some  of  its  ablest 
men  where  asking  themselves,  What  next  ?  and  were  look- 
ing to  Ireland  and  O'Connell,  not  indeed  with  the  view  of 
making  him  monarch  of  their  slippery  throne,  but  of  learn- 
ing from  him  how  he  worked  bloodless  social  revolutions. 
The  young  Count  de  Montalembert  was  one  of  the  men  who 
looked,  and  one  of  the  men  who  wished  to  learn.  He 
had  already  planned  a  History  of  Ireland,  but  Victor 
Cousin  had  prevailed  upon  him  to  relinquish  his  plan.  lie 
was  full  of  enthusiasm  for  this  unknown  land  and  this 
unknown  man;  and  he  set  out  for  Ireland  expecting  to  find 
his  imaginary  ideal,  and  met  with  the  disappointment  in- 
evitable under  such  circumstances.  He  expected  to  meet 
the  O'Connell  of  his  imagination,  he  found  instead  the 


584  MONT  A  LEMBER  T  AND  0' CON  NELL, 


O'Connell  of  fact.  We  doubt  if  his  ideal,  had  it  been  in 
existence,  would  ever  have  obtained  Catholic  Emancipation. 
There  was  rough,  hard,  stern  work  to  do  which  never  so 
much  as  entered  into  the  imagination  of  the  French  poet- 
historian.  It  was  charming,  indeed,  to  meet  a  little  ragged 
boy  on  the  mountain-side,  who  knew  the  Hail  Mary.  Mon- 
tal ember t  probably  was  not  aware  that  there  are  very  few 
Catholic  Irish  boys,  ragged  or  otherwise,  who  do  not  know 
their  prayers,  and  at  least  the  essentials  of  their  Catechism. 
But  it  was  quite  another  affair  to  hear  O'Connell  address  a 
crowd  of  frieze-coated  peasants  in  homely  accents,  and  to 
miss  that  peculiar  polish  of  manner  and  gesture  which  is 
natural  to  the  Celtic  Gaul.  Montalembert  forgot  the 
"  three  days  of  July,"  with  its  brutal  carnage ;  he  forgot 
that  the  very  "  agitation,"  which  seemed  to  his  poetical 
fancy  so  commonplace  and  so  distasteful,  was  a  safety- 
valve  for  passions  which  might  otherwise  have  found  vent 
in  deeds  of  violence.  But  in  truth  the  man  who  had 
been  courted  by  Felicite  de  Lamennais,  and  made  the 
companion  of  Henri  Lacordaire,  was  scarcely  capable  of 
understanding  the  stern  and  rugged  grandeur  of  O'Connell's 
character.6 

6  An  account  of  Montalembert's  visit  to  Darrynane  will  be  found  in 
Mrs  Oliphant's  "  Life  of  Montalembert,"  vol.  i.  p.  67.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  this  biography  was  not  written  by  a  Catholic.  It  is  full  of 
mistakes  and  misapprehensions  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  of  pre- 
judices against  Ireland.  The  one  weak  point  in  Montalembert's  cha- 
racter is  indeed  fairly  though  tenderly  indicated,  but  the  source  of  thii 


A    POWER  IN  PARLIAMENT. 


585 


In  his  first  letter,  written  just  before  the  opening  of 
Parliament,  he  said  that  his  motto  was  «  For  God  and°the 
people."    He  proved  it  by  his  fidelity  to  his  faith,  not  only 
in  wordS  out  in  deeds.    In  the  early  mornings,  summer  and 
Winter,  no  matter  how  late  he  might  have  been  up  on  the 
previous  night,  he  was  found  one  of  the  first  at  the  nearest 
Catholic  Church,  and  at  the  Sacrifice  there  offered  daily 
he  obtained  the  strength  and  courage  for  his  great  and  noble 
work.    O'Connell  was  eminently  a  practical  Catholic.  He 
was  not  deficient  in  that  peculiar  sense  of  perception  which 
forms  the  practical  mind  ;  but  a  man  may  be  a  practical 
Catholic,  and  yet  sadly  want  the  nerve  needed  for  daily 
encounter  with  opposition  from  without,  and  discourage- 
ment within. 

The  honest  nature  of  the  man  came  out  most  amusingly 
in  his  fourth  letter,  in  which  he  said  that  he  would  apply  for 
leave  to  bring  in  a  bill  "to  declare  that  truth  was  not  a  libel." 
In  a  few  weeks'  time  O'Connell  became  a  power  in  the  English 
Parliament,  and  botli  Hunt  and  Brougham  were  glad  to 
avail  themselves  of  his  services.  When  he  was  attacked,  as 
Was  frequently  the  case,  he  generally  managed  to  leave  his 
exponent  the  doubtful  triumph  of  a  name  which  clung  to 
him  for  life.     Lord  Leveson  Gower  was  at  this  time  Chief 


weakness  is  not  even  hinted.  His  want  of  that  perfect,  entire,  child- 
like submission  to  the  Holy  See,  the  very  perfection  of  faith,  was  tne 
note  wanting  in  the  harmony  of  a  mind  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  complete. 


LORD  LEVESON  GOWER. 


Secretary  for  Ireland.  O'Connell  had  brought  the  conduct 
of  Mr  Doherty,  in  connection  with  the  Doneraile  conspiracy, 
before  the  House.  Doherty  could  not  deny  the  facts,  but  he 
tried  to  retaliate  on  O'Connell  by  accusing  him  of  speaking 
very  differently  in  Ireland  and  in  Parliament.  Lord  Leve- 
son  Gower  defended  Doherty,  and  thereupon  bought  forth 
from  O'Connell  one  of  his  often-quoted  nicknamvs : — 

"  He  lias  ventured  to  censure  my  conduct  out  of  this  Honce;  out 
of  this  House  or  in  this  House,  I  hold  his  censure  at  nought — nor  do 
I  undervalue  it.  He  has  taken  upon  himself,  forsooth,  to  pronounce 
on  my  conduct.  I  have  a  right  to  retaliate  upon  him  as  &  public 
man.  For  his  taste,  for  his  judgment,  I  have  no  regard  ;  I  rejoice 
that  he  disapproves  of  my  conduct — I  should  be  sorry  he  approved 
of  it.  He  is  mighty  in  his  own  conceit — he  is  little  in  mine.  If  he 
served  my  country,  I  would  value  him.  But  what  has  he  done? 
What  one  act  of  his  official  life  has  been  useful  to  Ireland  1  Where 
shall  I  find  his  services  1  He  has  condescended  to  accept  the  salary 
of  an  officer  amongst  us.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  he  has  received 
the  emoluments  of  that  office — I  do  not  know  how  he  has  earned 
them.  He  has  ornamented  by  his  presence  the  apartments  of  Dublin 
( lastle.  But  has  he  done  any  act  of  liberality  1 — has  he  promoted  any 
one  friend  of  civil  or  religious  liberty  1 — has  he,  in  short,  raised  him- 
self into  importance  or  consideration  by  any  one  act  of  his  adminis- 
tration 1  I  deny  that  he  has.  He  is  an  apprentice  in  politics,  and 
he  dares  to  censure  me,  a  veteran  in  the  warfare  of  my  country. 
His  office  is  a  mere  apprenticeship.  The  present  Premier  was  Secre- 
tary in  Ireland — the  present  Secretary  of  State  was  Secretary  in 
Ireland — so  was  the  present  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Their 
juvenile  statesmanship  was  inflicted  upon  my  unhappy  country.  I 
have  heard  that  barbers  train  their  apprentices  by  making  them  shavo 
beggars.  My  wretched  country  is  the  scene  of  his  political  education 
— he  is  the  shave-beggar  of  the  day  for  Ireland  !    I  have  now  done 


PALMERSTOX  AND  WELLINGTON. 


with  the  noble  Lord.  I  disregard  his  praise — I  court  his  censure. 
I  cannot  express  how  strongly  I  repudiate  his  pretensions  to  import- 
ance, and  I  defy  him  to  point  out  any  one  act  of  his  administration 
to  wbich  my  countrymen  could  look  with  admiration  or  gratitude,  or 
With  any  other  feelings  than  those  of  total  disregard.  His  name 
will  serve  as  a  date  in  the  margin  of  the  history  of  Dublin  Castle— 
his  memory  will  sink  into  contemptuous  oblivion." 

It  was  believed  or  hoped,  after  the  passing  of  the  Emanci- 
pation Act,  that  Ireland  would  suddenly  become  prosperous 
and  content.  The  one,  indeed,  inferred  the  other,  for  no 
country  can  prosper  unless  it  is  content,  neither  can  it  be 
contented  unless  it  is  prosperous. 

Lord  Palmerston,  who  had  clearer  ideas  as  to  the  real 
state  of  Ireland  than  any  English  statesman  then  living 

°  (3  7 

broke  forth  into  an  eloquent  prophecy  of  the  fate  of  Ireland, 
with  an  ardent  generosity  which  did  infinite  credit  to  his 
heart,  though  it  showed  that  his  judgment  allowed  itself  to 
he  carried  away  by  his  feelings.7 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  said,  "  The  House  well  knew 
that  a  great  majority  of  its  members,  as  well  as  a  greater 
majority  of  the  other  House,  had  been  generally  desirous 
of  cflecting  that  object  [Catholic  Emancipation].    It  well 

7  "  I  canmt  sit  down  without  expressing  the  satisfaction  I  feel,  in 
common  with  the  nation  at  large,  at  the  determination  which  the  Go- 
vernment has  at  last  adopted  to  give  peace  to  Ireland.  The  measure 
now  before  us  will  open  a  career  of  happiness  to  that  country  which  lor 
centuries  it  has  been  forbidden  to  taste,  and  to  England  a  prospect  of 
commercial  prosperity  and  national  strength  which  has  never  yet  been 
recorded  in  our  annals.  The  labours  of  the  present  session  will  link 
together  two  classes  of  the  country  which  have  long  been  dissevered  ; 


588 


HISTORY  REPEATS  ITSELF. 


knew  that  a  great  majority  of  the  young  and  growing  in- 
tellect of  the  country  had  ardently  wished  for  the  measure; 
and  would  any  noble  Lord  now  contend  that  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  stand  on  firmer  and  better  ground  with 
respect  to  the  Union  than  if  the  Catholic  question  had  not 
been  carried  ?  "8 

There  was  no  mere  boast,  no  attempt  to  prop  up  a  falling 
cause  by  party  exaggeration  in  this  statement.  It  was  a 
matter  of  fact  that  a  great  majority  of  educated  English- 
men, both  peers  and  commoners,  were  most  anxious  to 
give  Ireland  an  instalment  of  the  justice  long  asked  and 
long  denied,  but  it  was  equally  true  that  the  result  dis- 
appointed or  perplexed  them  according  to  their  various 
dispositions. 

It  has  been  said,  until  one  is  almost  weary  of  the 
truism,  that  history  repeats  itself.  It  has  been  said  also 
that  history  is  philosophy  teaching  by  experience.  History 
does  rep°at  itself.  We  find  English  statesmen  who  have 
disestablished  the  Irish  Protestant  Church  as  perplexed 
now  why  that  measure  did  not  produce  tranquillity  and 

they  will  form  in  history  the  true  mark  which  is  to  divide  the  shadow 
of  evening  twilight  from  the  "brilliant  effulgence  of  the  rising  sun  ; 
they  will  form  a  memorial,  not  of  the  crime  or  ambition  of  man,  not  of 
the  misfortunes  or  revolutions  of  society,  but  of  the  calm  and  deliberate 
justice  of  benevolent  wisdom  watching  the  good  of  the  human  race  ;  and 
we  ought  to  be  proud  to  be  employed  on  an  act  which  will  pass  down  to 
the  latest  posterity  as  an  object  of  the  highest  gratitude  and  admira- 
tion."— Life  of  Lord  Pal?nersto?i,  vol.  i.  p.  341. 
8  u  Courts  of  William  TV.  and  Victoria,"  vol.  i.  p.  94- 


EMANCIPATION  NOT  ENOUGH. 


589 


prosperity  in  Ireland,  as  English  statesmen  were  why 
Catholic  Emancipation  did  not  produce  the  same  results  in 
1830.  History  may  be  philosophy  teaching  by  experience, 
bat  the  science  of  political  economy  is  a  difficult  philosophy, 
because  it  is  rarely  studied  apart  from  class  prejudice.  No 
man  takes  to  the  study  of  the  inductive  sciences  the  pre- 
judice which  hampers  the  politician  at  every  turn. 

Men  who  think  at  all  generally  think  out  their  logic. 
Politicians  for  the  most  part  are  guided  by  circumstances. 
There  are  not  many  men  who  change  their  political  creed 
except  for  personal  advantage ;  and  such  being  the  fact,  it 
follows  that  there  are  not  many  men  who  have  formed  a 
political  creed  as  the  result  of  careful  and  philosophic  de- 
duction. 

There  were  many  reasons  why  Catholic  Emancipation  was 
not  likely  to  make  Ireland  either  prosperous  or  contented 
in  a  week,  yet  there  were  men  sanguine  enough  and  un- 
reasonable enough  to  expect  it.  As  well  might  it  be  ex- 
pected that  a  man  who  had  been  chained  hand  and  foot 
for  years,  and  fed  on  such  sustenance  as  would  barely 
suffice  to  sustain  life,  should  become  suddenly  strong, 
vigorous,  and  grateful  the  moment  his  chains  were  re- 
moved,  the  moment  he  had  received  for  the  first  time  aD 
ample  supply  of  food. 

There  were  circumstances  special  to  the  time,  and  there 
were  circumstances  special  to  the  passing  of  the  Act  itself, 
which  combined  to  frustrate  the  hopes  of  those  who,  from 


690 


ENFORCED  BY  NECESSITY. 


the  highest  principles  of  statesmanship,  wished  to  benefit 
Ireland.  We  shall  first  briefly  point  out  the  circumstances 
special  to  the  Act  itself. 

First,  eighteen  months'  delay  in  passing  the  Act  injured 
its  value  and  efficacy  when  granted.  The  reiterated  ask- 
ing and  the  reiterated  refusal  had  agitated  the  public 
mind.  It  could  not  be  expected,  after  years  of  effort  to 
obtain  an  act  of  justice,  that  those  who  at  last  obtained 
it  should  be  very  grateful.  Furthermore,  it  was  well 
known  that  this  act  of  justice  was  granted  through 
fear.  Under  such  circumstances  it  could  not  be  received 
as  a  grace.  That  there  were  men  in  both  Houses  who 
gave  their  vote  for  Emancipation  from  the  purest  motives, 
no  one  can  doubt;  but  the  people  of  Ireland  could  not  know 
the  opinions  or  motives  of  private  individuals,  and  they  did 
know  a  good  deal  of  the  opinions  and  motives  of  public 
characters.9    It  was  given  grudgingly,  unwillingly,  and 


9  Lord  Palmerston  wrote,  "  The  Duke  is  fully  resolved  to  remain 
Minister.  .  .  .  He  found  he  could  not  cany  on  the  government  without 
yielding  the  Catholic  question,  and  he  wisely  surrenders  that  point. "  In 
another  place,  he  gives  a  curious  illustration  of  how  Ireland  wan 
governed  :  u  I  heard  by  accident  the  other  day  a  strong  proof  how 
wholly  the  Duke's  acquiesence  to  Catholic  relief  was  a  bending  to 
necessity,  and  not  a  change  of  opinion  ;  but  it  was  told  me  in  confidence, 
and  do  not  repeat  it.  A  Catholic  gentleman  applied  to  him  lately  to  be 
placed  on  the  Commission  of  the  Peace,  but  though  the  man  was  pe-r- 
1'ectly  respectable  and  eligible,  and  a  landed  proprietor,  the  Duke  re* 
tiised  him  because  he  was  a  Catholic." — Life  of  Lotd  Palmerston,  voL  it 
p.  337. 


PALTRY,  BUT  SERIOUS. 


59i 


ungraciously.  The  King  was  not  the  only  person  who  re- 
solved that  the  Act  should  be  a  dead  letter  as  far  as  pos- 
sible.1 And  when,  at  last,  some  little  sign  was  made  to 
show  that  it  possessed  vitality,  the  same  pitiful  spirit  which 
inserted  a  clause  in  the  Act  to  oblige  O'Connell  to  contest 
his  seat  a  second  time,  provided  for  the  appointment  of 
eilk  gowns.  Six  Catholic  gentlemen  were  named  for  this 
honour,  but  O'Connell's  name  was  not  amongst  the  num- 
ber. It  was  a  paltry  revenge,  but  the  consequences  were 
serious. 

The  King  slighted  O'Connell  at  his  levee  more  or  less 
openly,  and  there  were  but  too  many  who  followed  the 
royal  example.  The  highest  possible  commendations  were 
uttered  in  Parliament  of  "the  brave  and  learned  youth  of 
France,"  and  "  the  brave  and  honest  working-men  of 
Paris,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  risk  their  lives  when  they 
saw  that  a  system  of  tyranny  and  taxes  was  about  to  be 
fixed  for  ever  on  them  and  on  their  children."2  Resistance 
to  tyranny  in  Ireland  was  described  in  a  different  fashion. 

Again,  the  English  Government,  having  made  an  act 
of  concession  to  the  Catholics,  felt  bound  to  make  it  as 
little  practical  as  possible,  in  order  to  please  the  Orange- 
men. If  the  Liberal  party  had  been  wise  they  would  have 
coalesced  with  O'Connell  when  the  Tories  went  out,  bat 

1  See  note  on  previous  page. 

2  Speech  of  he  Marquis  of  Blandford  in  moving  an  amendment  t« 
the  address. 


592  THE   WHIGS  AND   0> CON NELL. 


they  would  not  coalesce  with  him,  first,  because  they  hated 
him  for  obtaining  Catholic  Emancipation ;  and  secondly, 
because  he  was  Irish.  Later,  indeed,  they  were  glad  to  avail 
themselves  of  his  splendid  talents ;  but,  like  all  gifts  to  Ire- 
land, the  delay  proved  dangerous.3  Lord  Grey  and  hi 
party  made  an  enemy  of  O'Connell  at  the  very  moment 
when  it  was  above  all  essential  that  he  should  be  a 
friend. 

O'Connell  was  human,  a  fact  which  is  not  unfrequently 
overlooked  when  he  is  charged  with  faults  of  policy  or  tem- 
perament. It  was  only  natural  that  he  should  feel  the 
slights  shown  him  so  gratuitously,  and  he  was  too  keen  an 
observer  of  the  political  atmosphere  not  to  discern  the  ab- 
surdity and  to  despise  the  weakness  which  tried  to  revenge 
itself  on  him,  for  being  obliged  to  make  this  concession 
to  Ireland.  O'Connell  was  a  victim  to  his  country  in 
more  ways  than  one.4 

If  the  Irish  were  not  satisfied  with  Emancipation, 
nothing  would  satisfy  them.  A  large  party,  always  ready 
to  govern  Ireland  by  force,  a  convenient  method,  because 

3  "  The  old  Tory  principle  of  non-concession,  till  concession  lost  all 
power  and  effect,  was  again  persisted  in." — Memoirs  of  Thomas  Di*um- 
mond,  p.  235. 

4  Sir  Lytton  Bulwer  has  made  some  very  sensible  remarks  on  Irish 
policy  in  his  "  Life  of  Lord  Palmerston,"  vol.  i.  p.  340.  He  says  :  "  Al- 
though the  Catholic  disabilities  were  removed,  the  spirit  which  had 
established  them  on  the  one  side,  and  rescinded  them  on  the  other,  still 
remained  ;  and  up  to  this  day  [1870]  there  seems  a  difficulty  in  per- 
suading those  most  interested  in  its  a\  elt'are,  that  if  you  wish  to  govern 


EM  A  SCI  PA  TION  INSUFFICIENT. 


593 


it  saved  the  trouble  of  argument,  cried  out  for  martial  law, 
A  smaller  party,  who  had  some  good  feeling  and  a  little 
common  sense,  asked  why  was  Ireland  always  discontented, 
hut  did  not  wait  for  a  reply.  Irish  affairs  were  treated 
very  much  as  a  necessary  nuisance,  to  he  heard  of  as  sel- 
dom as  possible,  and  when  heard  of,  to  he  got  rid  of  as  fast 
as  possible.  Every  one  hoped  in  his  own  fashion  that 
Ireland  would  "  settle  down"  into  prosperity.  No  one 
considered  how  much  was  yet  needed  to  make  Ireland 
prosperous. 

When  Emancipation  was  granted,  the  English  Govern- 
ment assumed  that  Ireland  wanted  nothing  more;  the 
Irish  had  asked  for  Emancipation,  and  nothing  more, 
therefore  they  wanted  nothing  more.  It  is  difficult  now  to 
judge  how  far  this  was  the  real  sentiment  of  statesmen,  or 
how  far  it  was  a  convenient  excuse  for  crushing  all  attempts 
at  further  legislation. 

In  the  first  place,  no  Act,  however  beneficial,  could  be 
expected  to  operate  instantaneously.  In  the  second  place, 
no  Act,  however  good  in  itself,  can  supply  the  place  of 
other  Acts  equally  necessary.5 

Ireland  as  a  statesman,  you  must  not  govern  it  as  a  sectarian,  nor  de- 
bate any  political  question  with  the  predominant  idea  that  you  are 
dealing  with  the  Protestant,  the  Catholic,  or  the  Dissenter.  It  is  this 
external  feeling  which  poisons  the  Irish  atmosphere,  and  until  laws 
shall  have  changed  manners,  we  must  not  expect  to  see  any  practical 
benefit  from  laws." 
6  We  find  a  characteristic  instance  of  the  ignorance  of  Ireland,  which 

2  p 


594 


ONE  SERIOUS  SHORTCOMING. 


If  an  Act  could  have  been  passed  for  the  Diffusion  of 
Common  Sense,  and  if  its  embodiments  could  have  been 
carried  out,  a  good  deal  of  trouble  would  have  been  saved. 
The  Relief  Bill  gave  relief  to  Catholics,  hitherto  denied  the 
rights  of  subjects,  but  it  required  time  before  they  could 
obtain  the  benefit  of  that  relief.  But  the  bill  did  not 
provide  profitable  employment  for  thousands  who  were 
nearly  starving,  and  who  could  not  be  expected  to  rejoice  very 
much  in  the  future  prospect  of  political  relief  while  they  were 
suffering  very  hardly  from  the  present  pressure  of  personal 
distress.  It  might  be  convenient  to  embarrass  a  political 
opponent  by  pointing  to  the  distressed  state  of  Ireland 
after  the  passing  of  the  Catholic  Relief  Bill,  and  saying 


seems  indigenous  to  some  English  minds,  in  Mrs  Oliphant's  "  Life  of 
Montalembert."  She  says,  "  It  is  sadly  and  curiously  characteristic  of 
Ireland,  that  all  the  great  reforms  for  which  she  has  agitated  have  been 
found,  immediately  after  their  attainment,  to  he  just  what  she  did  not 
want,  and  to  have  done  little  for  her."  It  is  certainly  wonderful,  in  this 
nineteenth  century,  to  find  a  highly-educated  Englishwoman  so  lament- 
ably ignorant  of  the  true  state  of  Ireland.  Because  the  Irish  do  not 
go  into  scstasies  of  gratitude  for  each  separate  act,  not  of  mercy,  but  of 
6iruple  justice,  a  certain  class  of  Englishmen  consider  them  ungrateful 
and  dissatisfied.  If  they  are  dissatisfied,  it  is  not  because  one  act  of 
justice  which  was  done  to  them  was  granted,  but  because  other  acts  of 
justice  required  to  be  done,  and  were  refused. 

Montalembert  himself  was  equally  ignorant  of  the  state  of  Ireland 
wheu  he  said  "that  this  'immense  event'  [Emancipation]  had,  after  all, 
done  but  little  for  Ireland  ;  the  truth  being,  that  all  the  ridiculous  and 
monstrous  penalties  legally  abrogated  by  that  enactment  were  already 
abrogated  in  fact"  Such  ignorance  was,  however,  pardonable  in  a 
foreigner. 


EXPLOSIONS  PROVOKED. 


695 


that  the  Irish  were  never  satisfied,  no  matter  what  was 
done  for  them,  because  they  were  not  satisfied  now;  but 
such  a  line  of  argument  showed  a  singular  want  of  com- 
prehension. The  Irish  were  satisfied  that  one  act  of 
justice  had  been  done  for  them,  but  they  still  wanted  a 
great  deal  more. 

The  Marquis  of  Anglesea  succeeded  the  Duke  of  North- 
umberland in  1S30,  and  in  one  month  issued  no  less  than 
four  proclamations  against  public  meetings  and  Repeal  and 
breakfasts.  O'Connell  was  a  man  who  might  be  conciliated, 
but  he  was  not  a  man  who  could  be  put  down.  Better  a 
thousand  times  to  have  allowed  him  to  agitate  in  his  ov/n 
fashion  than  to  exasperate  him  into  open  defiance  of  the 
Government.  His  public  meetings  served  as  a  safety- val  re 
for  excitement,  which,  driven  into  other  channels,  was  apt 
to  explode  in  acts  of  violence. 

Lord  Anglesea  said  he  went  to  Ireland  "  determined  to 
tranquillisethe  old  ascendency."  He  could  not  have  gone 
with  a  worse  principle.  The  "  old  ascendency"  were  men 
who  would  not  be  tranquillised  while  an  Irish  Catholic 
remained  in  the  land.  They  could  not,  indeed,  exterminate 
four  million  and  a  half  of  people,  but  they  could  keep 
them  in  perpetual  agitation.  The  Government,  having 
exasperated  them  by  granting  Emancipation,  now  pro- 
ceeded to  tranquillise  them.  Whenever  an  act  of  justice 
was  done  to  Catholics,  it  became  necessary  at  once  to  offer  a 
hecatomb  to  the  offended  feelings  of  Orangemen.  Nothing 


596 


MR  DOHERTY  CHIEF-JUSTICE. 


could  have  been  more  absurd,  and  nothing  more  unwise. 
The  Orangemen  took  the  offering,  but  it  never  reconciled 
them  to  the  justice  which  their  fellow-subjects  had 
received,  and  it  had  the  injurious  effect  of  showing  that 
party  their  power,  and  of  arousing  the  evil  spirit  which  a 
wise  Government  should  have  done  its  utmost  to  extin- 
guish,* 

The  Marquis  of  Anglesea's  first  act  certainly  did  not 
"  tranquillise  "  either  party.  He  made  Mr  Doherty  Chief- 
Justice.  This  gentleman  and  O'Connell  had  had  a  standing 
feud  from  the  time  of  the  Doneraile  conspiracy,  and  he  was 
universally  hated  by  the  Catholic  party. 

There  were  also  causes  peculiar  to  the  times  which  kept 
up  agitation  in  Ireland.  The  poverty  of  the  people  was 
extreme,  and  that  was  a  difficulty  which  no  amount  of 
Acts  of  Parliament  could  remedy  at  the  moment.  When 
English  statesmen  declared  that  it  was  useless  to  be  legis- 
lating for  Ireland  because  she  had  obtained  Emancipation 
and  still  required  coercive  Acts,  they  forgot  that  starving 
men,  in  all  times  and  places,  had  been  guilty  of  deeds  of 
violence,  and  that  Irishmen  at  that  time  were  starving. 


6  A  writer,  by  no  means  partial  to  Ireland  or  the  Catholics,  says,  "  It 
was  not  only  the  Catholics  who  were  excited,  the  Protestant  fanaticism 
of  Ireland  was  in  a  blaze.  There  was  a  hope  of  re-establishing  the 
ascendency.  Earl  Eoden  was  rolling  into  the  presence  of  majesty  a 
petition,  ra  great  wheels,  4500  feet  long,  signed  by  236,000  men  devoted 
to  the  constitution,  and  determined  to  be  free." — Life  of  Mr  Drummond, 
p.  237 


THE  INDIGNATION  OF  THE  SOUTH. 


They  forgot  also  that,  even  while  they  were  in  the  very 
direct  distress,  they  were  still  obliged  to  pay  tithes  to  a 
CI mrch  which  was  to  them  only  an  engine  of  oppres- 
sion. 

Disturbances  in  England  were  also  general  at  the  very 
same  period,  and  from  the  same  cause.    There  was,  how- 
ever, this  difference  :  Irishmen  could  live  contentedly  on 
what  Englishmen  cousidered  barely  sufficient  to  support 
the  necessaries  of  life.     Many  English  noblemen  had 
great  confidence  in  Dr  Doyle's  good  sense,  and  hoped  he 
might  be  able  to  suggest  some  measure  which  might 
tranquillise  his  native  land.    But  what  could  he  do  with  a 
starving  people,  and  with  a  Government  which  stultified 
itself  by  offering  an  embrace  with  one  hand  and  a  blow 
with  the  other  ?  He  assured  one  of  his  noble  correspondents 
that  the  whole  of  the  South  of  Ireland  was  indignant  at  Mr 
Doherty's  appointment,  as  they  well  might,  when  he  had 
caused  the  punishment  of  so  many  innocent  men ;  and  he 
concluded,  "  I  am  tired,  my  Lord,  of  appealing  to  the 
religious  feelings  of  men,  who  either  have  no  employment, 
or  labour  during  six  days  for  five  shillings.    Men  cannot 
exist  in  that  state,  and  it  is  almost  a  benefit  that  they 
follow  O'Connell,  for,  if  they  did  not,  they  would  rob  and 
plunder,  or  destroy  property,  preferring  death  by  the 
hands  of  the  executioner  to  death  by  cold  and  hunger."  7 


r  "  Life  and  Times  of  Dr  Doyle,"  voL  ii  p.  239. 


598 


PATRIOTISM  AND  PRUDENCE. 


Such  was  the  condition  of  the  unhappy  Irish  when  England 
expected  them  to  he  peaceful  and  contented.8 

On  the  19th  of  January  1831,  O'Conneli  was  arrested 
in  his  own  house  for  holding  illegal  meetings,  hut  was 
hailed  out ;  evidently  the  Government  was  glad  to  drop  a 
prosecution  which  should  never  have  "been  instituted.  Cer- 
tainly if  he  had  either  intended  or  wished  to  excite  an  in- 
surrection, he  could  easily  have  done  it  then,  and  he  only 
saved  the  country  hy  his  prudence.  He  had  fixed  the  31st 
of  January  as  the  day  of  his  departure  for  England.  He 


8  On  the  19th  of  January  1831,  the  Duke  of  "Wellington  wrote  to  the 
Duke  of  Buckingham  on  the  state  of  public  affairs,  and  said,  "  There 
appears  a  sort  of  feverish  anxiety  in  every  man's  mind  about  public 
affairs.  No  man  can  satisfy  himself  of  the  safety  either  of  the  country  or 
of  himself." — Courts  of  William  and  Victoria,  vol.  i.  p.  188.  When  such 
was  the  state  of  England,  it  cannot  be  wondered  that  Ireland  was  dis- 
turbed also.  Thousands  of  handbills  were  circulated  in  London  of  a  most 
inflammatory  character,  of  which  we  give  specimens.  An  Irish  "  Rory 
of  the  hills  "  could  scarcely  have  framed  more  seditious  documents. 

"  To  arms  !  to  arms  !  liberty  or  death  /  London  meets  on  Tuesday 
next,  an  opportunity  not  to  be  lost  for  avenging  the  wrongs  we  have 
suffered  so  long.  Come  armed,  be  firm,  and  victory  will  be  ours  !  !  ! 
An  Englishman." 

Another  ran  thus  : — 

"  Liberty  or  death  /  Englishmen,  Britons,  and  honest  men,  the  time 
has  at  length  arrived.  All  London  meets  on  Tuesday,  Come  armed/ 
We  assure  you,  from  ocular  demonstration,  that  six  thousand  cutlasses 
had  been  moved  from  the  Tower  for  the  immediate  use  of  Peels  bloody 
gang.  Mark  the  cursed  speech  from  the  throne  /  /  These  damned  police 
are  now  to  be  armed.    Englishmen,  will  you  put  up  with  this  ?" 

There  were  eight  hundred  convictions  in  England  for  riot  and  agrarian 
outrages  during  this  year. 


LETTER   TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


599 


was  escorted  to  the  pier  at  Kingstown  by  thousands  with 
bands  and  banners,  but  he  took  care  not  to  let  them  know 
that  his  departure  was  obliged  to  be  postponed,  as  he  had 
that  morning  received  a  summons  to  appear  in  court  per- 
sonally on  the  following  day.  If  his  excited  and  devoted 
followers  had  heard  this,  there  would  have  been  blood  shed 
in  Dublin  before  night  that  would  not  have  been  easily 
appeased. 

The  following  letter,  written  to  the  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1830,  shows  how  devoted  CTCoiinell 
was  to  his  parliamentary  duties,  and  how  much  his  heart 
was  in  all  that  concerned  his  native  land : — 

"  London,  3d  December  1830. 

"  My  Lord, — I  had  the  honour  of  receiving  your  Lordship's 
letter  this  day,  and  feel  heartily  obliged  for  its  length.  I  will,  of 
course,  present  any  petition  you  send  me,  and  never  think  of  the 
trouble.  In  fact,  it  is  none,  as  I  attend  the  House  constantly  from 
its  sitting  to  its  rising.  But  as  you  wish  to  diversify  your  favours, 
I  would  suggest  (and  which  I  do  only  because  you  require  it) 
0"C<>nor  Don,  Wise,  OTarrell,  and  above  all,  Lord  Killeen. 
Browne,  also,  would  cheerfully  present  some.  I  think  you  bad 
better  confine  them  to  Catholic  members.  Give  me  as  many  of 
tin.  m  u  you  please. 

"  As  to  my  obtaining  co-operation  or  support  from  many  of  my 
countrymen,  I  must  not  complain  on  those  heads.  I  have  done 
but  little,  however  much  I  wish  to  do  for  Ireland.  I  think  I  may 
venture  to  hope  that  wish  is  sincere.  I  also  hope  that  the  time  is 
arriving  when  more,  much  more,  may  be  done  for  our  long-oppressed 
country.  Your  mind  is  too  elevated  not  to  behold  as  from  an 
eminence  the  events  that  are  parsing  beneath  your  view.    The  signs 


mo 


LETTER  TO  DR  MAGE  ALE. 


of  the  times  indicate  great  and  mighty  changes.  The  aristocracy 
of  the  feudal  system  has  been  reduced  by  the  superior  strength 
and  information  of  the  classes  styled  inferior.  The  silken  and 
sordid  aristocracy  of  the  present  day  are,  in  my  opinion,  arrived  at 
their  last  term.  A  change  is  taking  place  even  while  we  write. 
Oh  !  for  superior  spirits  to  guide  and  direct  its  course,  to  steer  the 
mighty  ark  of  human  liberty  through  the  boisterous  waves  of  pas- 
sion and  turbulence  into  a  haven  of  calm  enjoyment ! 

"  I  hate  this  figurative  language,  and  yet  I  fall  into  it  because  it 
is  the  only  applicable  phraseology.  The  moral  and  political  revolu- 
tion is  plainly  on  its  march.  It  is,  I  may  say,  self-moving.  I  am 
as  convinced  as  I  am  of  to-morrow's  sun,  that  within  the  space  of 
probably  less  than  two  years,  the  monopolies  of  corporations,  and 
the  still  more  gigantic  oppressions  of  the  Established  Church,  will 
have  passed  away  for  ever.  'The  Repeal  of  the  Union ;  is  good 
for  everything.  It  is  good  as  the  means  of  terrifying  the  enemies 
of  the  people  into  every  concession  practicable  under  the  present 
system.  If  I  were  to  relax  the  agitation  of  that  measure,  then  the 
men  in  possession  of  power  would  enjoy  their  state  in  repose,  and 
adjourn  to  the  Greek  calends  all  practical  improvement.  But  after 
all,  what  can  they  do  ?  Nothing,  without  restoring  Ireland  to  her- 
self. The  income  accessary  from  the  soil  of  Ireland  and  the  labour 
of  the  inhabitants  must  be  spent  in  Ireland.  Conquest  and  con- 
fiscation had  their  function  in  the  Union.  They  were  made  com- 
plete by  that  measure,  but  they  have  exhausted  the  vitality  of  the 
land,  and  it  is  no  longer  able  to  give  sustenance  of  life  to  its 
inhabitants.  There  must  be  a  law  to  take  off  the  Church  burthen. 
An  Irish  Parliament  alone  can  do  that.  There  must  be  an  end 
to  absenteeism.  An  Irish  Parliament  alone  can  do  that.  The  cry- 
ing wants  of  the  poor,  the  increasing  indigence  of  the  people, 
demand  the  restoration  of  a  Parliament  which  will  not  only  keep  at 
home  i  the  rents/  but  diminish  their  amount  by  the  influence  which 
tenants,  voters,  sharers  in  a  free  government,  neighbours,  friends 
from  kindness  received,  enemies  from  oppression  j)ractised,  must 


ANTI-TITHE  RIOT. 


601 


necessarily  Lave  over  the  landlord  who  resides  within  their  view, 
and  can  hear  with  his  own  ears  their  curses  on  hardhearttsdness  or 
receive  their  blessings  for  generosity.  The  machine  of  the  state 
would  break  to  pieces  unless  we  consolidate  it  by  a  domestic  leois- 
Ifction,  and  thus  preserve  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  for  the  king's 
crown,  and  the  connection  for  the  benefit  of  both  countries.  Let 
pie  then  respectfully  urge  the  adding  petitions  for  'the  repeal'  to 
those  your  Lordship  mentions.  To  you  in  fact,  as  well  as  in  name, 
they  would  be  productive  of  some  utility.  I  shall  support  this  Ad- 
ministration as  long  as  they  observe  their  promise ;  but,  of  course,  I 
scorn  their  offers  of  place  or  promotion  for  myself. 

"I  fear  I  have  taken  unwarrantable  revenge  on  your  Lordship  in 
point  of  length  of  epistle,  but  no  length  of  writing  could  adequately 
express  the  sincerity  of  that  respect  and  regard  with  which  I  have 
tlie  honour  to  be,  my  Lord,  your  Lordship's  most  respectful  and 
faithful  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"Bight  Rev.  Dr  MacHale." 

Din  ing  the  year  1832,  O'Connell  had  a  sharp  controversy 
with  Dr  Doyle  on  the  poor-laws.  In  the  same  year  the 
tithe  agitation  was  at  its  height.  The  people  were  shot 
down  like  dogs  by  the  police,  often  headed  by  a  Protestant 
clergymen  ;  and  the  people  in  return  inflicted  on  the  tithe 
collectors  the  most  horrible  cruelties.  Rathcormac  was  the 
scene  of  one  most  horrible  massacre  of  the  unfortunate 
peasantry.  The  military  and  police  were  headed  by  the 
magistrates,  one  of  them  a  clergyman.  They  fired  so  close 
that  the  muzzles  of  their  guns  almost  touched  their  victims. 
At  a  place  called  Hervey,  the  people  assembled  in  thousands 
to  resist  the  payment  of  tithes,  and  had  a  regular  encounter 
with  the  military,  whom  they  overpowered  by  numbers. 


602  TRIAL  OF  THE  RIOTERS. 


For  this  resistance,  twenty-five  men  were  sent  to  Kilkenny 
for  trial  by  special  commission,  and  O'Connell  was  retained 
for  the  defence.  The  principal  evidence  against  the  firsl 
man  who  was  put  up  for  trial  was  that  of  a  policeman  who 
had  escaped  from  the  scene  of  slaughter.  His  testimony 
could  not  be  shaken,  and  O'Connell  was  about  to  send 
him  down  in  despair,  when  his  attorney  handed  him  a  piece 
of  paper.  It  contained  these  words  :  "  The  witness's  father 
was  a  sheep-stealer." 

O'Connell  went  on  with  his  cross-examination,  much 
to  the  surprise  of  the  attorney,  without  taking  any  notice 
of  the  circumstance.  Just  as  the  witness  was  about 
to  escape,  as  he  hoped,  finally,  O'Connell  called  him 
back. 

"  Are  you  fond  of  mutton?  " 

"Hike  a  good  piece  well  enough,"  replied  the  unsus- 
picious witness. 

"  Did  you  ever  know  any  expert  sheep-stealers  ?  " 

The  witness  coloured  crimson,  but  replied  quietly,  "  I 
have  met  with  a  few  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty  as  a 
policeman." 

"  Just  so  ;  only  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty  ?    Did  you 
ever  know  a  sheep-stealer  before  you  entered  the  police?" 
"  Never,"  replied  the  witness. 

O'Connell  put  the  question  again  mildly,  and  received 
the  snme  reply,  and  then,  in  tones  of  thunder,  charged  at 
the  unhappy  man,  and  obliged  him  to  admit  the  truth,  and 


"8PANKING  MAJORITIES:' 


6)3 


to  admit  himself  a  perjurer.  An  alibi  was  proved  fur  the 
prisoner,  and  he  was  acquitted. 

In  the  year  1S33,  O'Connell  took  his  full  share  in  the 
debates  on  the  Coercion  Bill.  Peel  quoted  stock  anec- 
dotes about  the  barbarity  of  the  Irish,  and  the  necessity  for 
u  putting  them  down."  O'Connell  admitted  that  there 
had  been  outrages,  but  he  showed  that  the  fault  of  these 
outrages  lay  at  the  door  of  those  "  who  gave  the  peasants 
stones  for  bread,  and  martial  law  for  justice.,,  9 

O'Couuell  had  some  of  the  greatest  men  of  that  or  any 
other  day  against  him;  and  even  his  worst  enemies  were 
obliged  to  admit  that  the  Irish  agitator  was  equal  to  most 
of  them,  and  surpassed  many.  He  had  to  answer  Stanley, 
Macaulay,  Brougham,  and  Peel.  The  bill  passed,  never- 
theless, by  a  spanking  "  majority,  to  the  great  satisfac- 
tion of  many  members  of  both  Houses,  some  of  whom  at 
least  believed  coercive  Acts  the  best  mode  of  governing 
Ireland. 


•  The  first  reading  March  5,  was  carried  after  a  debate  of  five  nights, 
by  466  to  89  ;  the  third  reading,  on  March  29,  by  345  to  86.  Lord 
Pahnerston  said,  "You  see  by  what  spanking  majorities  this  r-eformed 
House  of  Commons  is  passing  the  most  violent  bill  ever  carried  into 
law,  which  contains  in  one  Act  the  Insurrection  Act,  the  suspension  of 
the  Hal>e&s  Corpus,  and  martial  law.  It  is  a  real  tour  de  force,  but 
then  it  is  to  be  followed  by  remedial  measures  ;  and  there  is  this  differ- 
ence between  us  and  Metternich  or  the  Pope, — we  coerce  as  they  did,  but 
we  redress  grievances,  as  they  do  not"  It  does  not  seem  to  have  oc* 
curred  to  Lord  Pahnerston  that  it  would  have  been  wiser  to  have  pre- 
vented the  grievances. 


004 


MR  FERGUS  O'CONNOR. 


O'Connell  had  now  the  assistance  of  his  "household 
brigade,"  his  two  sons-in-law  and  his  three  sons  having 
seats  in  the  first  reformed  Parliament. 

"  Even  at  tins  early  stage  of  the  session,"  observes  Mr  John 
O'Cormell,  "  there  was  earnest  given  of  the  hostile  spirit  toward. 
Ireland  which  was  to  work  its  ruin.  The  only  part  of  the  speeche 
of  William  IV.  which  his  infirmities  or  his  inclinations  allowed  him 
to  deliver  with  any  distinctness  was  that  in  which  he  threatened 
Ireland  ;  and  even  this  agreeable  topic  did  not  give  more  dignity  to 
his  demeanour  than  that  of  a  good  scold."  1 

O'Connell,  certainly,  did  not  scold — he  thundered.  At 
the  close  of  one  of  his  speeches,  during  this  session,  he 
exclaimed,  addressing  the  Whigs,  "  You  have  brains  of 
lead,  hearts  of  stone,  and  fangs  of  iron."  The  famous 
Fergus  0' Conner  was  in  the  House  at  this  time  also.  He 
got  a  seat  in  Cork,  in  connection  with  the  obtaining 
of  which  some  amusing  reminiscences  are  recorded  by 
Mr  John  O'Connell.  He  was  an  impetuous  man,  without 
sufficient  steadiness  of  purpose  or  breadth  of  mind  to  carry 
out  a  plan  of  parliamentary  agitation.  Nevertheless,  he 
was  extremely  desirous  to  be  a  leader,  and  gave  O'Connell 


1  "Recollections  of  a  Parliamentary  Career,"  vol.  i.  p.  9.  Fergus 
O'Connor  and  O'lSTeil  Daunt  were  elected  about  the  same  time  ;  the 
former  had  no  money,  but  he  contrived  to  steal  a  march  on  the  opposing 
candidate.  It  was  considered  necessary  he  should  be  "invited"  to 
stand  for  the  county,  and  he  was  invited.  His  supporters  gave  him  a 
dinner,  but  to  his  extreme  dismay  a  bill  was  sent  to  him  afterwards  foi 
the  whole  cost  of  the  entertainment. 


"STRANGERS*  IN  THE  GALLERY. 


some  trouble  by  trying  to  press  on  the  Repeal  movement 
during  this  session. 

By  way  of  compensation  for  the  Coercion  Bill,  the 
Church-cess  imposition  was  taken  off  in  Ireland,  and  Irish 
Car  holies  were  no  longer  compelled  to  pay  for  the  repairs 
and  maintenance  of  Protestant  Churches.  At  the  same 
time,  ten  Irish  bishoprics  were  abolished  by  the  Church 
Temporalities  Act. 

It  was  during  this  year,  also,  that  O'Counell  had  his 
famous  quarrel  with  the  London  reporters,  and,  as  usual, 
came  out  victor.  He  complained  that  they  misreported 
li is  speeches.  They  retorted  by  refusing  to  report  them  at 
all.  O'Connell  retaliated  by  calling  the  attention  of  the 
Speaker  to  the  "  strangers"  in  the  gallery,  and  clearing 
them  out  of  the  House.  The  reporters  capitulated,  and 
reported  O'Connell  correctly  to  keep  their  places  without 
molestation. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1833,  an  attempt  seems  to  have 
been  made  to  divide  the  Irish  party  by  calumny.  It  was 
aunounced  by  the  member  for  Hull  that  an  Irish  member 
had  voted  against  the  Coercion  Act,  who  strongly  urged  it 
in  private,  and  declared  to  the  Ministry  that  "no  man  could 
live  in  Ireland"  unless  it  was  passed.  The  question  arose, 
"Who  was  the  traitor?"  The  member  for  Hull,  being 
6orely  pressed,  agreed  that  he  would  say,  Yes  or  No,  if 
asked  privately  by  each  of  the  suspected  persons.  This  was 
done,  and  it  appeared  that  Shiel  was  the  guilty  individual 


606 


LORD  ALTHORPE  AND  SHI  EL. 


O'Connell  asked  Lord  Althorpe  in  the  House  if  the  charge 
was  true,  and  to  name  the  person.  Lord  Althorpe  evaded 
the  question  by  saying  that  he  believed  more  than  one 
Irish  member  who  voted  against  the  Coercion  Act  spoke 
favourably  of  it  in  private. 

There  were  cries  of  "  Name,"  "Name."  The  Irish 
members  started  to  their  feet,  and  demanded,  both  indi- 
vidually and  collectively,  "Was  it  I?"  Shiel  made  a 
special  inquiry,  and  Lord  Althorpe  admitted  he  was  one 
of  the  persons.  The  result  was  a  hostile  message,  after 
SHel  had  most  solemnly  denied  the  imputation  in  the 
House.  The  House  interposed,  and  gave  both  parties  into 
custody;  but  eventually  a  committee  investigated  the  matter, 
and  it  was  proved  that  the  whole  affair  wras  a  fabrication. 

On  the  23rd  of  April  1834,  O'Connell  brought  forward 
his  motion  for  Repeal  of  the  Union.  He  was  compelled  to 
do  this  against  his  own  judgment,  being  fully  aware 
that  the  time  for  passing  so  important  a  measure  had  not 
yet  come.  As  he  walked  down  to  the  House  from  his 
residence  in  Langham  Place,  he  paused  a  moment  at  a 
point  where  Westminster  Abbey  became  visible,  and  ex- 
claimed, "  The  Lord  Almighty  be  merciful  to  your  soul, 
Henry  the  Seventh,  who  left  us  so  magnificent  a  monument 
of  your  piety.  You  left  provision  at  your  decease  to  have 
perpetual  masses  offered  up  for  your  soul ;  but  from  the 
time  that  ever-execrable  brute  Henry  the  Eighth  seized 
on  the  revenues  of  the  Church,  and  of  course  laid  hands  on 


THE  OLD  CATHOLIC  CATHEDRALS. 


that  endowment  with  the  rest,  perhaps  no  human  being 

recollected  to  aspirate  the  words  '  The  Lord  have  mercy  on 

your  soul,'  until  it  struck  the  humble  person  who  now  offers 

that  prayer  with  the  utmost  sincerity." 

CTConnell  frequently  expressed  a  wish  that  he  might 

live  to  see  mass  offered  up  in  Westminster  Abbey.  The 

tide  of  conversions  from  Protestantism  which  had  then  set 

in  excited  hopes  which  were  not  realised.    The  earnestness 

of  1)  i>  own  character,  and  his  deeply  religions  sentiments, 

gave  him  a  deep  interest  in  the  converts,  whom  he  used  to 

meet  frequently  in  London  at  a  later  period.  Having 

Buffered  for  the  faith  themselves,  and  knowing  something  of 

the  reality  of  persecution,  they  sympathised  with  Ireland 

more  deeply  than  it  could  be  sympathised  with  by  those 

who  had  no  practical  experience  of  such  trials. 

"  O'Connell,"  observes  Mr  Daunt,  "  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer 
of  the  ancient  cathedrals  of  England.  In  that  of  Canterbury  he 
took  a  peculiar  interest,  as  it  was  the  scene  of  the  martyrdom  of 
St  Thomas  a  Becket  ;  an  occurrence  which  he  employed  Mr  Alfred 
Eimore  to  commemorate  in  the  spirited  picture  which  hangs  in  the 
church  of  St  Andrew,  Westland  Row,  Dublin.  O'Connell  said,  '  I 
have  presented  this  picture  to  the  church,  in  the  hope  that  the  sight 
of  it  may  put  other  people  in  mind  to  follow  my  example/ 

There  was  a  slight  incident  connected  with  his  visit  to  Canter- 
bury Cathedral,  which  he  took  pleasure  in  frequently  recording. 
F  Wbile  walking  through  the  noble  old  Catholic  pile,' said  he,  '  I 
chanced  to  remark  to  my  daughter,  who  accompanied  me,  that  it 
was  not  a  little  singular  that  not  one  Protestant  prelate  had  ever 
been  interred  within  its  walls.  This  remark  was  overheard  by  the 
female  guide  who  shows  the  Cathedral  to  visitors.    She  listened 


60S 


WESTMINSTER  AND  ST  PAUL'S. 


attentively,  and  after  some  apparent  hesitation,  said,  "  May  I  take 
the  liberty,  sir,  of  asking  a  question?"  "Certainly,"  said  I. 
"  Then  may  I  make  so  bold  as  to  ask,  if  all  those  Archbishops  were 
Papists'?"  a  Every  one  of  them,  madam,"  said  I.  "Bless  me  !" 
cried  the  woman,  in  astonishment,  "  I  never  knew  that  before." 
I  then  described  the  effect  of  the  high  altar  lighted  up  for  the  cele- 
bration of  mass  in  Catholic  times  ;  when  the  great  aisle,  now  boxed 
up  into  compartments  by  the  organ  loft,  stretched  its  venerable 
and  unbroken  length  from  the  altar  to  the  portal,  thronged  with 
kneeling  worshippers.  The  picture  delighted  the  woman.  "  Oh  !  " 
cried  she,  clapping  her  hands,  "  I  should  like  to  see  that !  "  "  God 
grant  you  may,"  returned  I.' 

"  Then  he  would  sometimes  add — 'And  He  may  yet  grant  it — < 
England  is  steadily  and  gradually  returning  to  the  Catholic  faith.' 

"Comparing  the  cathedrals  of  Catholic  times  with  those  erected 
since  the  Reformation,  he  observed,  '  Westminster  Abbey  and  St 
Paul's  afford  us  good  specimens  of  this  sort  of  contrast :  the  very 
architecture  of  the  former  seems  to  breathe  the  aspiring  sentiment 
of  Christianity;  but  St  Paul's — it  is  a  noble  temple,  to  be  sure; 
but  as  for  any  peculiarity  of  Christian  character  about  it,  it  might 
just  as  well  be  a  temple  to  Neptune  ! '  " 

O'ConnelTs  Repeal  motion  was  opposed  by  Mr  Spring 
Rice,  who  was  well  supplied  with  facts  and  fictions  for 
the  occasion.  The  motion  was,  of  course,  lost ;  and  it  is 
said  that  O'Connell's  speech  was  by  no  means  equal  to 
his  usual  efforts,  because  he  did  not  anticipate  success.1 
Lord  Grey's  administration  was  not  of  long  continuance ; 


2  Mr  Daunt  says  : — "  O'Connell  told  me  he  was  forced  to  take  thia 
Btep,  bitterly  against  his  will.  '  I  felt,'  said  he,  '  like  a  man  who  was 
going  to  jump  into  a  cold  bath,  but  I  was  obliged  to  take  the  plunge,' 
His  speech  was  certainly  an  able  one,  but  very  inferior  to  the  masterly 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


609 


he  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Melbourne.  O'Connell's  private 
opinions  will  be  best  seen  in  the  following  letter  to  his 
Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  : — 

"London,  22d  March  1834. 
"My  ever-rlspected  Loud, — I  had  the  honour  of  receiving  a 
letter  from  you  some  time  ago  promising  a  Repeal  petition,  and  I 
wish  to  say  that  the  petition  has  not  come  to  hands.    I  regret  to  be 
obliged  to  add,  that  the  number  of  Repeal  petitions  does  not  at  all 
correspond  with  my  hopes  and  expectations.    I  am  the  more  sorry 
for  tli is,  because  /  have  the  most  intimate  conviction  that  nothing  of 
mine  can  possibly  be  done  for  Ireland  until  ice  have  a  domestic 
Parliament.    The  faction,  which  in  all  its  ramifications,  bears  so 
severely  on  our  people  and  our  country,  can  never  be  rendered 
innoxious  whilst  they  can  cling,  even  in  idea,  to  support  from  the 
Government  of  this  country.    It  is  ;i  subject  of  serious  but  melan- 
choly speculation  to  reflect  upon,  the  innate  spirit  of  hatred  of 
everything  Irish  which  seems  to  be  the  animating  principle  of  their 
existence.    You  certainly  have  two  distinct  specimens  of  the  worth- 
lessness  of  that  existence  in  your  county  members.     Two  such 
'lubbers,'  as  the  seamen  would  call  them,  two  such  '  bustoons,' 
as  we  in  Munster  would  denominate  them,  never  yet  figured  on  any 
stage,  public  or  private.    One  of  the  best  of  your  Lordship's  good 
works  wiil  be  assisting  to  muster  such  a  combination  of  electoral 
force  in  your  county  as  will  ensure  the  rejection  of  both  at  the  next 
practical  opportunity.    I  should  be  tempted  to  despair  of  Ireland  if 
1  could  doubt  of  your  success. 

u  I  read  with  deep  and  painful  interest  your  published  letters  to 

oration  in  which  he  introduced  the  same  question  to  the  Dublin  cor- 
poration in  1843. 

"  Xotwithstanding  the  obstacles  thrown  by  the  Coercion  Act  in  the 
way  of  petitions  to  the  Legislature,  O'Connell  was  backed,  on  this  occa- 
sion, by  more  than  half  a  million  of  signatures  to  petitions  in  favour  of 
Repeal."—  Personal  Recollections,  vol.  i  p.  18. 

2  Q 


610 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


Lord  Grey.  What  a  scene  of  tyranny  and  heartless  oppression  oo 
the  one  hand  !  what  a  frightful  view  of  wretchedness  and  misery  on 
the  other  !  A  man  is  neither  a  human  being  nor  a  Christian  who 
does  not  devote  all  his  energies  to  find  a  remedy  for  such  grievances. 
But  that  remedy  is  not  to  be  found  in  a  British  Parliament. 

"  You  will  see  by  the  papers  that  the  Protestant  Dissenters  in  thia 
country  are  storming  that  citadel  of  intolerance  and  pride — the 
Established  Church.  The  effect  of  such  an  attack  can  operate  only 
for  good  in  Ireland.  This  was  the  stronghold  of  the  Irish  Estab- 
lishment; as  long  as  they  had  England  at  their  back,  they  could 
laugh  to  scorn  all  attempts  in  Ireland  to  curb  them ;  but  I  believe, 
firmly  believe,  their  days  are  numbered,  and  hope  that  we  shall  see, 
but  certainly  not  weep. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  Lord,  most  respectfully,  your  most 
obedient  servant,  " Daniel  CVConnell. 

"  Eight  Kev.  Dr  MacHale." 

"Mertiion  Square,  10th  Becember  1834. 

"  My  revered  Lord, — There  have  been  many  letters  of  con- 
gratulation addressed  to  your  Grace,  but  none,  I  will  venture  to 
say,  so  cordial  as  mine ;  because  I  not  only  congratulate  you  as  a 
gentleman  whom  even  as  a  private  individual  I  highly  respect,  but 
congratulate  you  in  the  name  of  Ireland,  and  for  her  sake  ;  and  above 
all,  for  the  sake  of  that  faith  whose  sacred  deposit  has  been  preserved 
by  your  predecessors,  and  will  be  preserved  unblemished,  and  indeed 
with  increased  lustre,  by  your  Grace. 

"  Indeed,  I  venture  to  hope  that  there  are  times  coming  when 
the  period  of  the  oppression  of  the  Church  in  Ireland,  destined  by 
God  in  His  adorable  dispensations  to  arrive — will  have  arrived. 
/  do.  I  confess,  venture  to  augur  favourably  from  your  nomination 
by  his  Holiness  the  Pope  —  you  who  had  proved  yourself  too 
honest  an  Irishman  not  to  be  obnoxious  to  the  British  Administra- 
tion. It  seems  to  me  to  be  the  brilliant  dawn  of  a  noonday  in 
which  the  light  of  Rome  will  no  longer  be  obscured  by  the  clouds 
of  English  influence.    I  often  sighed  at  the  delusion  created  vi  the 


O'COXNELVS  INFLUENCE  IN  THE  HOUSE. 


political  circles  at  Rome  on  the  subject  of  the  English  Government. 
They  thought— good  souls— that  England  favoured  the  Catholics, 
When  she  only  yielded  to  our  claims— not  knowing  that  the  secret 
animosity  to  Catholicity  was  as  envenomed  as  ever  it  was. 

"The  present  Pope— may  God  protect  his  Holiness— has  seen 
through  that  delusion,  and  you  are  a  proof  that  it  will  no  longer  be 
a  cause  of  misconception  to  be  as  true  to  the  political  interests  as 
to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  people  of  Ireland.  I  am  delighted  at 
this  new  era.  Xo  man  can  be  more  devoted  to  the  spiritual  autho- 
rity of  his  Holiness.  I  have  always  detested  what  were  called  the 
liberties  of  the  1  Church  in  France.' 

"  I  am  convinced  that  the  more  direct  and  unequivocal  is  that 
authority  according  to  the  canons,  the  more  easy  will  it  be  to  pre- 
serve the  unity  of  the  faith. 

"  I  need  not  add,  that  there  does  not  live  a  human  being  more 
submissive — in  omniius — to  the  Church  than  I  am,  from  the  most 
unchangeable  conviction.  I  have  only  to  add,  that  if  your  Grace 
could  have  any  occasion  for  any  exertions  of  mine  in  support  of  any 
candidate  in  any  county  in  Connaught,  I  shall  have  the  greatest 
pleasure  in  receiving  your  suggestions  as  cherished  commands. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be.  with  profound  respect,  my  Lord,  of  your 
Grace,  the  most  obedient  faithful  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Conxell. 

"  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale,  &c." 

The  immense  power  which  O'Connell  wielded  at  this 
period  in  the  English  Parliament,  and  how  his  least  word 
or  act  was  carefully  weighed  by  English  statesmen,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  recently-published  Memoirs  and  Correspond- 
ence  of  Lord  Hatherton.  Those  persons  who,  from  ignor- 
ance or  educational  prejudices,  have  looked  on  O'Connell 
jug  a  mere  agitator,  will  do  well  to  peruse  this  w<tL  No 
mere  agitator  could  have  obtained  such  influence  or  exer- 


612 


JEALOUSY  OF  0' CON  NELL. 


cised  such  power  ;  no  brawling  demagogue  could  oblige  a 
powerful  party  in  the  State  to  consider  his  influence  first 
in  almost  every  step  they  took.3 

In  1835,  when  Lord  Melbourne  had  formed  a  Cabinet, 
Lord  Alvanley  asked  if  he  had  not  the  "  powerful  aid  "  of 
O'Connell  and  his  party  ?  Lord  Brougham  interfered  to  put 
aside  such  an  inconvenient  interrogatory;  but  the  Premier 
was  obliged  to  defend  himself  by  a  denial.  An  angry 
scene  ensued.  Lord  Londonderry  congratulated  Lord  Mel- 
bourne, and  said  he  was  glad  to  hear  that  he  had  repudiated 
O'Connell  and  his  Radical  crew,  as  he  was  sure  that  any 
ministerial  connection  with  him  or  his  tail  would  be  the 
curse  of  the  country.  A  few  nights  after  Colonel  Sibthorp 
hoped  the  House  would  have  a  safe  and  speedy  riddance 
of  the  band.     O'Connell  replied  with  interest  to  each  of 

3  The  following  extracts  from  the  correspondence  will  show  this  : — Lord 
Hatherton  wrote  to  Lord  Wellesley,  "  Under  such  circumstances,  a  com- 
plete union  in  the  House  of  Commons  between  the  Government  and  the 
great  mass  of  the  Irish  members  is  of  the  first  importance."  In  order 
to  effect  this  union,  O'Connell  was  courted  and  deceived.  Again  he 
writes,  "  In  the  course  of  the  day,  O'Connell  came  to  the  Irish  Office 
I  cautioned  him  against  any  unnecessary  excitation  of  the  people  in  Ire 
land  until  he  should  have  seen  the  new  Coercion  Bill,  which  would  be 
renewed,  but  with  certain  limitations.  He  thanked  me,  and  promise-l 
to  consider  my  communication  as  strictly  private  and  confidential." 
And  so  he  did,  until  he  found  how  he  had  been  deceived  ;  perhaps  not 
with  full  intention,  but  certainly  he  was  deceived. 

O'Connell  appears  to  have  had  his  doubts,  however  ;  for  Lord  Hather- 
ton, in  writing  to  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  says,  "  On  O'Connell  expressing 
Borne  doubt  whether  others  in  the  Cabinet  would  not  overrule  the 
opinions  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant  and  myself,"  &c—  P.  53. 


DISRAELI  COURTING  CP  CORNELL. 


his  honourable  opponents;  and  as  Colonel  Sibthorp  pos- 
sessed an  extraordinary  amount  of  hirsute  appendages, 
he  said  "he  would  not  abate  him  a  single  hair  in  point 
of  good  humour." 

O'Connell  at  times  allowed  himself  to  use  unjustifiable 
language  in  public.  He  stigmatised  Lord  Alvanley  as  a 
u  bloated  buffoon."  Lord  Alvanley  challenged  him  first, 
and  then  tried  to  get  him  expelled  from  Brooke's  Club. 
The  Club  refused  to  expel  O'Connell,  and  Mr  Morgan 
O'Connell  took  up  the  challenge,  and  met  Lord  Alvanley 
in  Regent's  Park,  without  any  serious  consequence  to  either. 
Soon  after  this  occurrence,  Mr  Disraeli  attaeked  O'Connell 
at  Taunton.  This  versatile  statesman  had  changed  his 
politics  rather  suddenly.  When  the  borough  of  Wickham 
became  vacant  in  1831,  he  wrote  to  O'Connell  soliciting 
his  interest,  and  a  commendatory  letter  from  him.  It  cer- 
tainly is  a  curious  phase  of  political  history  to  know 
that  the  author  of  "  Lothair  "  courted  the  Irish  Catholic 
agitator.  Mr  Disraeli  had  O'Connell's  letter  printed,  and 
placarded  through  the  borough,  and  O'Connell  not  un- 
naturally complained  of  this  attack  on  him  after  he  had 
done  Mr  Disraeli  "  a  civility,  if  not  a  service."* 

4  O'Connell's  attack  on  the  great  Conservative  leader  was  certainly 
Very  severe  : — "  How  is  lie  now  engaged  ?  Why,  in  abusing  the 
Radicals  and  eulogising  the  King  and  the  Church  like  a  true  Conser- 
vative. At  Taunton  this  miscreant  had  the  audacity  to  style  me  an 
incendiary.  Why,  I  was  a  greater  incendiary  in  1831  than  I  am  at 
present,  if  I  ever  were  one  ;  and  if  I  am,  he  is  doubly  so  for  having 


614       O'CONNELL'S  ATTACK  ON  DISRAELI. 

Disraeli  demanded  satisfaction  from  Morgan  O'Coimell, 
who  u  had  taken  on  himself  the  vicarious  duty  of  yield- 
ing satisfaction  for  the  insults  which  his  father  had  too 
long  lavished  on  his  political  opponents."    Morgan  O'Con- 

ampioyed  me.  Then  he  calls  me  a  traitor.  My  answer  to  that  is—He 
is  a  liar  !  He  is  a  liar  in  action  and  in  words.  His  life  is  a  living  lie. 
He  is  a  disgrace  to  liis  species.  What  state  of  society  must  that  he.  that 
coull  tolerate  such  a  creature — having  the  audacity  to  come  forward 
with  one  set  of  principles  at  one  time,  and  obtain  political  assistance  by 
reason  of  those  principles,  and  at  another  to  profess  directly  the  reverse? 
His  life,  I  say,  is  a  living  lie.  He  is  the  most  degraded  of  his  species 
and  kind  ;  and  England  is  degraded  in  tolerating  or  having  upon  the 
face  of  her  society,  a  miscreant  of  his  abominable,  foul,  and  atrocious 
nature.  .  .  .  He  is  Conservatism  personified.  His  name  shows  that 
he  is  by  descent  a  Jew.  His  father  became  a  convert.  He  is  the  better 
for  that  in  this  world,  and  I  hope,  of  course,  he  will  be  the  better  for  it 
in  the  next.  There  is  a  habit  of  underrating  that  great  and  oppressed 
nation — the  Jews.  They  are  cruelly  persecuted  by  persons  calling  them- 
selves Christians — but  no  person  ever  yet  was  a  Christian  who  persecuted. 
The  crudest  persecution  they  suffer  is  upon,  their  character,  by  the  foul 
names  which  their  calumniators  bestowed  upon  them  before  they  carried 
their  atrocities  into  effect.  They  feel  the  persecution  of  calumny  severer 
upon  them  than  the  persecution  of  actual  force  and  the  tyranny  of  actual 
torture.  I  have  the  happiness  to  be  acquainted  with  some  Jewish  fami- 
lies in  London,  and  amongst  them  more  accomplished  ladies,  or  more 
humane,  cordial,  high-minded,  or  better  educated  gentlemen,  1  have 
neve1-  met.  It  will  not  be  supposed,  therefore,  that  when  I  speak  A 
Disraeli  as  the  descendant  of  a  Jew,  that  I  mean  to  tarnish  him  on  that 
account.  They  were  once  the  cnosen  people  of  God.  There  were  mis- 
creants amongst  them,  however,  also  ;  and  it  must  have  certainly  been 
from  one  of  those  that  Disraeli  descended.  He  possesses  just  the  quali- 
ties of  the  impenitent  thief  who  died  upon,  the  cross — whose  name,  I 
verily  believe,  must  have  been  Disraeli.  For  aught  I  know,  the  present 
Disraeli  is  descended  from  him,  and  with  the  impression  that  he  is,  I 
now  forgive  the  heir-at-law  of  the  blasphemous  thief  who  died  upon  the 
cross  ! " 


"IXEXTIXG  CIS H ABLE  HA  T  RED" 


615 


nell  Joined  his  right.  Disraeli  wrote  a  public  letter,  which 
he  hoped  would  bring  some  one  out ;  and  on  the  6th  of  May 
1835,  he  wrote  again  to  Morgan  O'Connell,  "  Now,  sir,  it 
is  my  hope  that  I  have  insulted  him  ;  assuredly  it  was  my 
intention  to  do  so;  and  I  fervently  pray  that  you  or  some 
one  of  his  blood  may  attempt  to  avenge  the  inextinguish- 
able hatred  with  which  I  shall  pursue  his  existence." 
Morgan  O'Connell  still  declined  to  fight,  and  the  "  inex- 
tinguishable hatred,"  though  unavenged,  did  not  do 
O'Connell  any  particular  harm. 

In  the  year  1835,  O'Connell  was  actively  engaged  in 
superintending  arrangements  for  Irish  elections,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  Carlow  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Bruen 
family,  who  had  long  believed  in  a  hereditary  right  to 
return  whom  they  pleased.  The  following  letters  to  Di 
MacHale  are  evidences  of  his  energy  and  earnestness: — 
"  Committee  Room,  Ibth  January  1835. 

"  My  ever  dear  Lord, — We  are  now  getting  on  well.  I  begin 
to  believe  that  I  will  beat  them  here.  But  Vigors  loses  Carlow 
— honest,  independent  Vigors !  He  has  money  enough  for  your 
legitimate  purposes,  and  I  wrote  to  recommend  him  as  the  second 
man  for  Mayo,  should  I  not  want  it  myself.  I  will  write  to  your 
Grace  again  to-morrow.  I  will  then  know  the  best  or  the  worst. 
Waterford  city  turns  out  the  Conservative,  and  returns  Wise  and 
Banner. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect  of  your  Grace, 
the  devoted  servant,  Daniel  O'Cosnelu 

"Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale, 

"  Catholic  Archbishop,  Tuam." 


616 


A   TROUBLESOME  GENTLEMAN, 


"  Merrion  Square,  Dublin,  January  17,  1835. 
"  My  ever  respect i<:d  Lord, — You  will,  I  know,  be  glad  to  see 
my  frank.  Blessed  be  God,  all  is  at  last  well  here.  I  find  from  the 
papers  that  Hume  is  in  danger  in  Middlesex.  What  a  glorious 
opportunity  if  we  could  return  him  for  Mayo  with  Brabazon.  1 
would  guarantee  the  payment  of  £1000  if  he  were  certainly  returned 
— that  is,  I  have  no  more  doubt  of  that  money  than  I  have  of  my 
existence.  Pardon  me  for  obtruding  on  your  Grace  at  this  moment, 
but  it  would  be  a  high  honour  to  Ireland  to  have  such  a  represen- 
tative. I  write  in  haste  and  some  confusion,  but  the  fact  is  that 
time  presses. 

"  I  am  compelled  to  go  to  Meath  to  my  son  Morgan,  and  thence 
unhappily  to  Kerry. 

"  Ever  and  always  with  the  most  profound  respect  and  admiration 
of  your  Grace,  the  most  devoted  faithful  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell, 

"Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale. 

"  P.S. — I  am  sure  Vigors  would  prefer  your  returning." 

In  May,  Mr  Raphael,  a  Catholic  gentleman,  was  returned, 
through  O'Connell's  influence,  for  Carlo vv ;  but  he  refused 
to  pay  part  of  his  election  expenses,  and  involved  O'Con- 
nell in  endless  trouble  ;  indeed,  he  said,  "  I  had  more 
trouble  with  him  than  I  ever  had  with  any  man."  A  Par- 
liamentary Committee,  however,  decided  that  the  "Liberator 
was  entirely  free  from  blame. 

In  January  1836,  O'Connell  was  entertained  at  public 
banquets  both  in  Liverpool  and  Brighton,  where  the  Irish 
element  was  beginning  to  feel  its  power  and  assert  itself. 

During  the  years  1836  and  1837,  the  Irish  Corporation 
Reform  Bill  was  a  source  of  constant  dispute  between  the 


LORD  L  YXD HURSTS  ATTACK. 


617 


two  Houses.  Lord  Londonderry  declared  that  "  O'Con- 
nell  was  more  dictatorial  and  impudent  than  ever."  He 
wa<  no  less  complimentary  to  his  compeers,  "whom  lie 
called  a  snivelling,  yelling  part  of  a  pack  without  a 
huntsman.'* 

A  good  deal  of  recrimination  went  on  in  both  Houses, 
mid  English  members  proved  themselves  quite  as  great 
adepts  at  conveying  imputations,  and  using  unparlia- 
mentary, if  not  ungentlemanly,  language  as  any  Irish 
member. 

It  was  at  this  period,  also,  that  Lord  Lyndhurst's  cele- 
brated attack  on  the  Irish  brought  forth  from  Shiel  one  of  his 
finest  speeches,  already  mentioned.  Lord  Lyndhurst  pos- 
sibly scarcely  meant  all  he  said,  but  he  was  embittered  by 
party  feeling,  and  the  words  have  remained  ever  since  as  a 
painful  evidence  of  unhappy  and  ignorant  intolerance.  "It 
seems,  my  Lords,"  he  exclaimed,  "  that  we  Protestant 
Englishmen  are  to  be  governed  by  those  who  are  aliens  in 
blood,  in  language,  and  in  religion."  This  attack  on 
Ireland  came  with  a  singularly  bad  grace  from  a  man 
who  was  himself  of  Irish  descent,  and  of  very  humble 
parentage:  but  such  persons  are  generally  the  first  to  vilify 
their  country  or  their  religion  when  placed  in  a  position  of 
eminence.6 

*  "  Courts  of  William  IV.  and  Victoria,"  vol.  ii.  p. 
8  Lord  Campbell  admits  "  that  he  could  not  trace  the  line  of  the 
Copleys  farther  back  than  the  Chancellor's  grandfather,"  and  that  he 


TEE  BANQUET  AT  TU AM. 


In  January  1836,  O'Connell  was  entertained  at  a  ban- 
quet in  Tuaru.  The  speeches  made  on  that  occasion  are 
all  before  us,  but  it  would  be  impossible  to  give  more  than 
a  few  brief  extracts. 

The  Liberator  pronounced  an  enthusiastic  panegyric  cn 
Mr  Bodkin,  and  "  hoped  Galway  would  long  be  represented 
by  so  truly  honourable  a  gentleman  ; "  but  he  surpassed  his 
usual  warmtli  in  proposing  the  health  of  the  illustrious 
Archbishop  of  Tuam,  a  prelate  who  added  lustre  to  the 
hierarchy,  not  only  by  his  piety  but  also  by  his  learning. 
The  toast  was  received  with  enthusiastic  applause,  and  the 
reply  of  the  Archbishop  was  in  itself  a  sufficient  proof  of 
the  correctness  of  O1  Council's  eulogium, 

As  for  many  reasons  his   speech  cannot  fail   to  be 

perused  with  interest  at  the  present  day,  we  append  it  with 

but  few  omissions  : — 

"I  accept  of  the  compliment  as  a  recognition  of  that  apostolical 
source  from  which  my  office  is  derived.  Let  others  enjoy  the 
feathers  of  temporal  titles,  as  well  as  the  more  weighty  and  valu- 
able considerations  of  temporal  wealth,  as  long  as  they  are  left  them 
by  the  good-will  of  the  power  that  gave  them.  I,  whether  of 
Maronia,  or  of  Killala,  or  of  Tuam,  never  set  any  value  on  those 
names,  but  as  far  as  they  are  authentic  monuments  of  spiritual  and 


"  married  in  Ireland." — Lives  of  Lord  Lyndhurst  and  Brougham, 
p.  3. 

Sir  John  Copley's  grandfather  rose  to  distinction  through  his  artistic 
skill.  He  was  born  in  America  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  hia 
Irish  parents  in  that  country.  Lord  Lyndhurst  is  not  the  only  Irishman 
who  has  sought  to  be  more  English  than  the  English. 


SPEECH  OF  DR  MAC  HALE. 


619 


untitled  inheritance,  which  it  is  not  within  the  compass  of  any  power 
on  earth  to  take  away.  Do  not  imagine  that  I  look  upon  the  toast 
as  i  mere  compliment,  suggested  either  by  my  presence,  or  that  of 
Lta  venerable  bishop  by  my  side.  No  j  I  regard  it  as  a  continuous 
evidence  of  that  habitual,  deep,  and  heartfelt  reverence  which  the 
iaiiy  «>f  Ireland  uniformly  exhibit  towards  their  clergy,  and  which 
it  ia  unnecessary  to  assure  them  has  a  sincere  reciprocal  return  in 
tie  paternal  attachment  of  their  pastors.  In  this  mutual  affection 
have  the  faithful  and  the  priesthood  of  Ireland  found  the  richest 
Bources  of  their  solace  in  the  bitterest  period  of  their  woe  ;  and 
from  this  continuance  shall  they  draw  their  sweetest  consolation  in 
the  coming  days  of  their  prosperity.  Were  it  otherwise,  it  would  be 
a  fatal  day  for  the  happiness  of  Ireland.  Then  might  our  enemies 
with  some  reason  raise  the  shout  of  triumph.  Then  might  they 
indulge  the  anticipation  that  the  series  of  our  disasters  was  not 
closed — nay,  that  they  might  upset,  in  a  few  years,  that  magnificent 
fabric  of  the  nation's  freedom  which  it  cost  our  illustrious  guest  such 
toils  and  perils  and  anxieties  of  six-and- thirty  years  to  rear. 
Thank  God,  however,  that  the  merits  and  service  of  such  a  man  are 
not  left  tor  posthumous  appreciation.  It  has  been  the  reproach  of 
many  countries  and  many  periods  not  unfruitful  in  virtue,  that  they 
abandoned  their  benefactors  to  the  praises  of  posterity.  It  is  no 
unfavourable  presumption  in  favour  of  our  own  times,  that  we  can 
estimate  living  worth  ;  and  never  was  there  such  evidence  of 
talent  and  integrity,  for,  during  a  period  unexampled  in  the 
annals  of  any  powerful  or  popular  man,  his  fame,  instead  of  suffer- 
ing any  eclipse,  has  brightened,  day  after  day,  unto  a  fuller  and 
more  permanent  effulgence.  Witness  his  triumphs.  Shall  I  touch 
on  the  Catholic  Association  ?  No;  hindered  as  I  am— the  luminous 
records  of  his  own  pen,  like  those  who,  when  they  attempt  to  pursue 
the  conqueror  of  Gaul  through  the  career  of  his  triumphs,  are  de- 
terred from  the  task  by  the  charm  of  his  own  commentaries.  Ireland 
is  too  full  of  the  recollection  of  his  services  to  require  their  enumera- 
tion, and  the  pdlars  of  light  he  has  left  behind  him  sufficiently  point 


620 


SPEECH  OF  DR  MAG  HALE. 


out  to  every  eye  the  path  which  he  has  traversed.  But  I  shall 
allude  to  his  recent  and  triumphant  career  through  the  sister 
country,  as  productive,  I  trust,  of  advantages  as  it  has  been  of 
universal  admiration.  What  a  singular  spectacle,  to  see  the  inhabit- 
ant of  a  land,  whose  lot  was  lately  identified  with  servitude,  wel- 
comed as  the  most  efficient  living  champion  of  freedom !  The 
professor  of  a  religion  that  was  hitherto  calumniated  as  persecuting 
hailed  by  those  of  another  as  the  unrivalled  advocate  of  the  most 
enlightened  and  Christian  toleration  !  To  see  England  forget  its 
ancient  hostility  to  our  country,  and  Scotland  relaxing  beneath  his 
spell  the  puritanical  stiffness  of  its  creed  !  To  see  the  generous 
people,  wherever  he  went,  thronging  round  him,  confessing  their 
former  errors,  and  laying  their  bigotry  and  their  prejudices  as  a 
homage  at  his  feet  !  Behold,  even  this  day,  what  a  scene  we  wit- 
nessed, surrounded  by  myriads  whose  ranks  were  so  compact  and 
dense  (such  was  their  affectionate  rudeness),  that  it  required  almost 
as  much  force  to  penetrate  through  them  as  if  you  were  opening  a 
way  through  a  solid  mass.  The  Tories  wonder  how  he  possesses 
the  charm  of  stealing  away  the  hearts  of  people.  You  might  as  well 
expect  that  the  trees  of  the  forest  should  not  wave  their  heads  when 
agitated  by  the  wind  of  heaven,  as  that  any  mass  of  human  beings 
should  not  be  stirred  to  homage  when  touched  by  the  soul-stirring 
breath  of  his  eloquence.  As  you  have  associated  my  name  with  the 
hierarchy,  I  think  there  cannot  be  better  proofs  of  the  value  and 
importance  of  that  body  than  the  abuse  that  is  heaped  on  them  by 
a  calumniating  press.  Among  the  others,  need  I  refer  you  to  the 
unchristian  attacks  upon  our  body,  winch  were  falsely  attributed 
to  a  certain  dignitary  of  the  Establishment.  He  disavowed  to  a 
portion  of  those  charges,  and  flung  the  rest  to  be  indiscriminately 
borne  by  three  thousand  of  the  Irish  priesthood.  It  was  not  to  be 
repelled  as  when  confined  to  twenty-seven  bishops.  He,  however, 
did  not  hesitate  to  own  that  some  of  his  allusions  were  so  pointed 
as  that  the  individua\  for  whom  they  were  meant  could  not  possibly 
be  mistaken.    He  disliked,  it  seems,  any  polemical  public  corres- 


SPEECH  OF  DR  MAC  HALE. 


621 


pondcnce.  I  have  no  doubt  of  it— he  himself  best  knows  the  reason. 
The  individual  to  whom  he  alluded — in  order  that  I  may  avoid  the 
repetition  of  that  letter  1  /,'  which  must  be  offensive— has  other 
occupations  besides  obtruding  on  his  Lordship  any  unwelcome  con- 
troversy. But  from  what  sources  do  these  serious  charges  against 
the  Catholic  clergy  come  ?  Is  it  from  a  portion  of  the  press  dis- 
tinguished for  the  correctness  of  its  moral  sentiments  or  the  beauty 
of  its  language  ?  If  the  taste  of  any  people  be  estimated  by  the 
character  of  the  literature  which  ministers  to  their  instruction  and 
amusement,  we  may  judge  how  exalted  is  the  standard  of  Tory 
refinement  from  the  style  and  sentiments  of  the  public  journals 
which  are  devoted  to  their  support.  Such  language  would  be  in- 
tolerable in  any  circle  having  the  least  pretensions  to  decency,  and 
some  of  the  sentiments  would  be  deemed  to  be  savage  in  a  state  of 
barbarism.  As  for  our  calumnies,  no  character  however  blameless, 
or  profession  however  sacred,  are  beyond  the  reach  of  their  abuse. 
Need  I  allude  to  the  gross  attacks  upon  our  clergy  and  hierarchy. 
And  from  that  hierarchy  thev  have  singled  out  one  whose  retiring 
habits  should  have  protected  him  from  their  assaults.  Nay,  they 
have  assailed  him  with  the  same  virulence  as  if  conscious  that  the 
meek  disposition  which  kept  him  aloof  from  all  political  strife 
would  render  him  more  sensitive  to  the  shafts  of  their  unprovoked 
and  gratuitous  rancour.  And  what  was  his  crime?  Merely  that 
he  did  not  submit  to  the  calumnious  imputations  of  the  horrid 
opinions  that  were  falsely  attributed  to  his  Church,  and  that,  frcra 
the  nobleness  of  soul  which  shrinks  from  the  imputation  of  guilt,  he 
rppelled  the  charge  and  made  it  recoil  upon  his  enemies.  And  for 
this,  which  should  have  been  an  honour,  they  revile  a  man  whose* 
varied  acquirements  could  adorn  a  court,  and  whose  unostentatious 
evangelical  virtues  would  not  have  been  unworthy  of  the  brightest 
epoch  of  the  cloisters.  As  to  the  attacks  upon  the  priesthood  of 
Ireland,  they  are  too  well  employed  to  return  railing  for  railing,  or 
to  waste  their  time  with  those  Churchmen  who  have  nothing  else  to 
do,  in  repelling  charges  which  would  be  repeated  the  day  after 


622 


SPEECH  OF  DR  MACE  ALE. 


refutation.  I  tell  those  people,  in  the  name  of  the  calumniated 
priesthood  of  Ireland,  that,  instead  of  covering  them  with  re- 
proaches, they  ought  to  be  grateful  for  their  services.  If  they 
preach  the  doctrines  that  are  imputed  to  them,  are  there  not 
hearers- enough  to  bear  testimony  1 

"  The  portals  of  our  churches  are  open  to  the  world  ;  the  public 
ways  are  filled  on  Sundays  with  the  multitudes  that  go  forth  after 
hearing  the  instructions  of  their  pastors.  We  speak  publicly  before 
the  world,  and  in  secret  we  say  nothing  ;  and  yet  there  is  no  evi- 
dence of  those  foul  charges.  The  truth  is,  those  who  advanced 
those  charges  know  little  of  the  nature  of  our  ministry.  It  is  a 
ministry  of  peace,  not  of  strife — of  charity,  not  of  discord.  The 
priest  on  the  altar  is  fully  impressed  with  the  awful  nature  of  the 
mysteries  he  celebrates,  and  feels  that  the  accents  of  vengeance 
would  be  ill-suited  to  the  tongue  that  had  just  been  purpled  with 
the  sacrifice  of  reconciliation.  Instead,  then,  of  enmity,  they  preach 
forgiveness  ;  and  the  person  who  comes  breathing  the  revenge  to 
which  nature  would  prompt  him,  returns  with  far  different  feelings; 
and  the  widow  who  was  left  childless  goes  home,  invoking,  like  the 
first  martyrs,  the  mercies  of  Heaven  on  the  heads  of  those  who  be- 
reave her  of  that  staff  which  was  given  her  to  sustain  the  tottering 
footsteps  of  old  age."  7 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1836,  we  find  O'Connell 
again  in  active  correspondence  with  the  Archbishop  of 
Tuam  on  the  subject  of  elections,  as  the  following  letters 
will,  show  : — 

"  Darrynane  Abbey,  7th  January  1836. 
"  My  ever-kespected  Lord, — I  had  the  honour  of  receiving  the 
letter  of  your  Grace,  dated  the  4th,  this  evening.    Yesterday  I  got 


7  This  allusion  to  the  cruelties  consequent  on  the  exaction  of  tithe?  ia 
one  which  can  be  verified  by  a  reference  to  the  evidence  given  befora 
Parliamentary  Committees  on  this  subject. 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


623 


the  Galway  invitation,  and,  of  course,  accepted  it.  Besides  the 
flattering  honour,  I  do  think  1  a  cheer '  in  the  right  tone  useful  just 
now  in  Connaught. 

"  Unfortunately  I  fixed  the  18th  for  the  dinner;  had  I  got  your 
Grate's  letter  sooner,  most  Reverend  Dr  MacHale,  I  shculd  have 
stated  to  you  the  facts  relative  to  my  position,  and  have  left  you 
to  decide  for  me.  As  it  is,  I  have  no  remedy,  as  I  have  to  dine  in 
Trxlee  on  the  14th;  in  Cork,  /  fear,  on  the  16th;  in  Shadbally  on 
the  20th  j  and  in  Dublin  on  the  25th ;  and  in  Birmingham  on  the 
28th — these  are  all  public  dinners. 

"  The  dinner-invitation  is  for  Galway  town.  I  had  hoped  it 
would  have  been  in  Tuam.  I  also,  in  accepting  the  invitation, 
had  cherished  the  pleasing  expectation  of  meeting  your  Grace,  and 
having  the  benefit  of  a  detailed  communication  with  you.  It  is 
indeed  a  bitter  disappointment  to  me  to  find  that  your  unavoidable 
absence  in  Parliament  precludes  my  having  the  benefit  of  laying 
before  you  my  views  of  the  present  prospects  of  our  country.  There 
is  much  gloom,  but  I  think  I  perceive  the  coming  light  behind  the 
political  passing  cloud.  I  must  inrlict  a  long  and  tedious  letter  on 
your  Grace,  as  I  am  deprived  of  the  pleasing  and  more  useful  mode 
of  personal  communication. 

"  I  need  not  say  with  what  pleasure  I  should  have  availed  myself 
of  your  Grace's  kind  hospitality  if  circumstances  permitted. 

u  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  most  faith- 
ful devoted  servant,  Daniel  O'Connell." 

"Tralee,  15th  January  1S36. 
u  My  nr.-rr.CTED  Lord, — I  had  the  honour  to  receive  your  Grace's 
letter  of  the  13th  this  morning.  I  have  so  much  to  do  here  that  I 
fear  I  will  not  be  able  to  go  farther  than  Limerick  on  Sunday.  I 
will,  however,  endeavour  to  meet  at  Ennis.  I  mean  to  travel  thence 
to  Gcrt,  where  there  are  horses  engaged  for  me.  I  cannot,  I  pre- 
sume, be  disappointed  of  horses  in  Loughrea.  I  know  not,  hit  I 
believe  that  there  is  an  intermedial  stage  between  Loughrea  and 
Tuam  ;  and  I  fear  no  delay  but  that  which  may  arise  f n  en  the  want 


624 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


of  horses  at  that  intermediate  stage.  At  all  events,  I  will  start  so 
early  on  Monday  morning  as  to  be  certain  of  reaching  Tuam  in  time 
for  the  dinner. 

"  I  will  feel  truly  happy  to  find  myself  a  guest  in  'the  palace' 
of  your  Grace. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  very  re- 
spectful most  faithful  servant,  Daniel  O'Connell." 

"London,  1Uh  April  1836. 

"  My  ever-respected  Lord, — I  of  course  have  felt  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  fate  of  Mayo  since  it  has  been  emancipated  from  the 
'  Brownists but,  at  the  same  time,  I  entertain  the  confident 
expectation  that  all  must  be  well  when  under  the  eye  of  your  Grace. 
The  only  reason  I  had  to  entertain  the  least  apprehension  was  from 
seeing  the  published  proceedings  of  Mr  O'Dowd  and  others,  who, 
at  this  distance,  appeared  to  me  to  be  placing  themselves  in  the 
attitude  to  do  mischief.  I  candidly  confess  that  I  had  hoped  that 
Lord  Dillon's  son  had  been  well  advised  to  alter  his  address,  and  to 
pledge  himself  so  distinctly  to  popular  principles.  I  had  hoped  he 
had  been  thus  advised  by  your  Grace.  If  that  were  the  case,  I 
should  expect  that  he  would  not  meet  with  any  opposition  from  anj 
of  the  popular  party. 

"  Indeed,  if  I  had  deemed  it  necessary,  I  should  long  since  have 
written  to  recommend  them  strongly  to  your  Grace's  consideration. 

"  Of  course,  I  need  not  add  that  I  would  not  give  the  slightest 
countenance  to  any  person  who  had  not  your  approbation.  I  got  a 
letter  this  day  from  R.  0.  Brown,  stating  that  he  was  the  candidate 
who  had  '  the  support  of  Br  MacIIale  /' 

"  If  that  be  so,  I  most  heartily  wish  him  success.  But  if  it  be 
not  so,  then  I  could  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  do  any  act  to 
prevent  a  contest  with  whoever  you,  upon  the  whole,  consider  the 
most  fit  person.  You  have  been  so  instrumental  in  liberating  the 
county  last  election,  that  you  ought  to  have  that  deference  paid  to 
your  judgment  independent  of  the  many,  many  other  rights  you 
have  to  public  confidence. 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


62o 


"If,  therefore,  my  name  can  influence  a  single  voter,  you  may 
nse  it  in  the  most  absolute  and  unlimited  maimer  for  him  whom 
you  deem  the  best  man.  I  think,  at  this  distance,  that  Mr  Dillon 
is  that  man.  But  I  repeat,  shape  a  letter  from  me  to  the  electors 
in  any  form  you  please,  deprecating  and  reprobating  division,  and 
putting  forward  any  other  topics  you  may  deem  useful.  That  is,  of 
eonrae,  if  you  think  anything  of  the  kind  useful. 

"  I  will  avow  anything  you  do.  I  would  write  a  letter  myself  if 
I  knew  what  kind  of  letter  you  wished.  I  still  feel  assured  that 
all  will  be  well.  The  only  thing  I  deem  the  occasion  to  require  is 
respectfully  to  implore  of  your  Grace  to  take  an  active  share  in 
the  struggle  to  prevent  mischief  and  secure  good.  I  say  this  lest 
you  should  be  disgusted  with  the  faults  or  follies  of  any  of  the 
partisans,  and  so  shrink  from  the  effort  to  ensure  for  the  county  the 
best  man  in  the  best  manner. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect  and  veneration, 
of  vour  Grace,  the  most  faithful  servant  and  affectionate  friend, 

"  Daniel  O'Conxell. 

"  Most  Hev.  Dr  MacHale,  &c.,  <fec." 

In  July  we  find  a  letter  which  shows  the  personal  and 
active  interest  he  took  in  the  National  Bank  which  he  had 
established. 

National  Bank  of  Ireland,  39  Old  Broad  Street, 
London,  2d  July  1S36. 

"My  BVER-RESFBCTED  Lord, — I  have  brought  your  Grace'* 
letter  hen  in  order  to  have  your  recommendation  complied  with. 
There  could  be  no  difficulty  in  making  out  the  appointment  at  once 
if  you  had  been  able  to  certify  to  Mr  Fitzgerald's  knowledge  of 
business. 

"  The  situation  of  manager  requires  a  familiar  habit  of  keeping 
accounts  of  a  complicated  nature. 

"If  Mr  Fitzgerald  be  such  a  clerk,  his  appointment  as  manager  is 
certain  :  but  if  he  be  not,  then  we  could  and  would  instantly 
'  2  B 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


appoint  him  as  local  director.  The  salary  of  a  manager  would  b# 
about  £200  a  year.  The  director's  salary  £50  a  year.  The  manager 
must  give  his  entire  time  to  the  Bank.  The  director's  attend- 
ance is  not  severe.  It  will  be  now  for  your  Grace  to  say  which 
office  Mr  Fitzgerald  is  suited  for,  and  will  accept.  I  have  only  to 
add  that  his  appointment  can  be  made  out  the  moment  you  please 
to  decide. 

"  For  myself,  I  wish  to  tell  you  in  strict  confidence,  that  I  desire 
very  ardently  that  all  good  men — all  those  we  should  desire  to  see  safe 
— should  as  speedily  as  they  can  disembarrass  themselves  from  the 
Agricultural  Bank.  I  feel  it  a  duty  to  tell  you  this  fact,  that  it  is 
certain  that  until  lately,  if  at  all,  there  was  no  partnership  deed 
executed.  I  believe  there  is. not  a  real  company  formed.  They 
cannot,  as  I  conceive,  endure  long.  Their  resources  for  capital 
must  necessarily  be  small,  their  expenses  great.  To  me,  who  am 
become  familiar  with  banking  operations,  I  cannot  conceive  how  it 
is  possible  that  that  bank  should  hold  out.  I  say  this,  my  Lord, 
for  your  own  guidance,  if  you  should  have  to  advise  in  confidence 
wfith  any  person  on  the  subject,  or  if  you  felt  any  duty  to  give  a 
private  warning  to  any  person.  Of  course,  I  should  most  anxiously 
desire  not  to  say  anything  to  injure  the  establishment  of  that  bank. 
I  speak  merely  in  fear.  I  may,  of  course,  be  mistaken,  but  my 
own  opinion  is,  that  the  Agricultural  Bank  will  bring  ruin  on 
thousands. 

"  You  are,  my  Lord,  aware  of  the  political  state  of  this  country. 
I  intend  for  Ireland  to  propose  the  revival  of  the  Catholic  Associa- 
tion in  a  new  name  and  somewhat  broader  basis.  It  will  bear  the 
name  of  '  The  General  Association  of  Ireland' — to  be  dissolved  so 
soon  as  full  corporate  reform  and  a  satisfactory  adjustment  of  the 
tithe  are  obtained  by  law. 

"  I  intend  to  have  the  '  Irish  rent '  to  replace  the  Catholic  rent, 
and  to  find  a  friend  to  indemnify  tithe  victims;  but  this  part  of 
the  arrangement  will  require  discretion,  tact,  and  some  cautious 
management.    You  will  see  my  plans  fully  developed  in  the  Pilot 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE, 


627 


of  Wednesday.  The  state  of  parties  here  is  singular  :  as  vet  unde- 
fined  in  object. 

"The  Tories  hare  not  as  yet  flattered  themselves  with  coining 
into  power.  The  popular  party  have  not  as  yet  framed  any  plan! 
There  is  much  indignation,  much  discontent  fomenting.  As  far  as 
the  English  and  Scotch  towns  are  concerned,  the  public  mind  is 
decidedly  favourable  to  Ireland. 

u  I,  however,  am  upon  the  whole  convinced  that  the  rejection  bv 
the  Lords  of  our  bill  will  work  for  good.  I  will  be  leaving  London 
in  a  few  weeks.  The  last  debate  this  session  will  take  place  on 
Monday,  and  after  that  I  am  determined  to  go  to  Ireland  to 
organise  the  agitation. 

M  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  respected  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the 
most  devoted  faithful  servant,  Daniel  O'Coxxell. 

"  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacIIale." 

At  the  close  of  the  year  he  wrote  the  following  very 
interesting  letter  to  Dr  MacHale.  His  wife  was  dead,  but 
Ireland  still  existed,  and  he  was  not  wholly  widowed: — 

"  Merriox  Square,  9th  November  1837. 

u  My  ever- respected  and  dear  Lord, — I  know  you  pity  me, 
and  aff<»rd  me  the  relief  of  your  prayers.  To-morrow  I  begin  to 
console  my  henrt  by  agitation.  I  am  now  determined  to  leave  every 
other  consideration  aside,  and  to  agitate  really — to  agitate  to  the 
full  extent  the  law  sanctions.    Command  me  now  in  everything. 

"  I  got  this  morning  a  biank  cover,  enclosing  two  letters  for  youi 
Grace.  I  enclose  one  in  this,  and  another  in  a  second  frank  ;  they 
would  be  over  weight  if  sent  together.  The  address  has  the  name 
of  Geo.  Washington  on  the  corner,  whether  an  assumed  name  or 
not  I  have  no  room  to  conjecture.  I  mention  these  things  merely 
to  show  your  Grace  that  if  these  letters  be  not  genuine,  I  am  unable 
to  afford  any  clue  to  the  writer.  They  may,  however,  be  perfectly 
correct  in  all  particulars. 

"I  believe  we  are  safe  in  all  the  counties  and  towns  in  Connaught 


628 


ACCESSION  OF  VICTORIA. 


save  Sligo  and  Athlone  I  indeed  believe  the  latter  tolerably  secure. 
Every  nerve  must  be  strained  to  increase  the  Irish  majority  in 
Parliament.  My  watchword  is — 4  Irish  or  Repeal.'  Indeed,  I 
entertain  strong  hopes  that  we  shall  live  to  see  the  latter —  1  a, 
consummation  most  devoutly  to  be  wished.' 

"Dr  England  was  with  me  yesterday  ;  he  gave  me  some  strong 
evidence  of  the  hostility  of  the  English  Catholics  to  those  of 
Ireland.  He  has  promised  to  give  it  to  me  in  writing,  and  I  will 
send  your  Grace  a  copy.  He  goes  off  to  1  Haite  '  next  week,  but 
purposes  to  return  next  year,  and  then  intends  to  suggest  a  place 
for  a  Foreign  Missionary  Society  in  Ireland,  should  it  meet  with 
the  approbation  of  the  Irish  prelates.  Irish  priests  are  abundantly 
abused,  yet  they  are  in  demand  by  the  religious  and  zealous  Catholics 
all  over  the  world. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  my  revered 
Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  devoted  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale,  &c." 

William  IV.  died  in  1837,  arid  was  succeeded  by  Vic- 
toria. A  general  election  was  the  immediate  result,  and 
O'Connell  again  exerted  himself  with  superhuman  energy 
to  obtain  the  return  of  Irish  members  who  should  have  a 
true  interest  in  Ireland. 

O'Connell  was  unseated  on  petition  for  Dublin,  but  in 
a  few  days  he  was  returned  for  Kilkenny.  His  power  in 
Parliament  was  more  and  more  felt ; 8  and  as  his  enemies 

8  There  were  some  public  men  in  England  then  who  were  able  to 
form  a  fair,  if  not  an  altogether  just  opinion  of  O'Connell's  character 
and  career.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1835,  Colonel  Napier  wrote  : — 
"  O'Connell  is  not  a  great  man,  but  I  don't  agree  with  you  that  he  geta 
his  money  wrongfully  or  meanly.  He  has  undertaken  a  great  and  excel- 


MOUNT  MELLERAY  ABBEY, 


629 


could  not  get  rid  of  him,  they  calumniated  him.  Professor 
Wilson  attacked  him  in  Blackwood's  Magazine,  and  declared 
that  he  had  taken  a  brihe  of  £1000  for  proposing  to  have 
the  Factory  Bill  discussed  in  committee.  O'Connell  indig- 
nantly  denied  this  false  charge ;  but  it  shows  how  powerful 
was  the  influence  of  the  Irish  agitator. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1837.  O'Connell  made  a  retreat 
at  Mount  Melleray  Abbey.  This  noble  institution  was 
founded  in  the  year  1832  by  the  monks  of  the  Cistercian 
monastery  of  Melleray  near  Nantes.  The  greater  number 
of  these  monks  were  Irish,  and  naturally  looked  to  Ire- 
land for  a  place  of  refuge  when  driven  from  their  home. 
After  various  wanderings,  they  settled  in  their  present 
establishment;  and  when  O'Connell  visited  the  place,  the 
church  was  nearly  complete.  The  guest-house,  however, 
being  unfinished,  he  was  obliged  to  live  in  the  lodge,  which 
will  be  seen  on  the  view  of  the  buildings  given  in  this  work. 
O'Conuell's  visit  was  a  marked  event  in  the  annals  of 


lent  work,  the  freeing  of  his  country  from  the  most  diabolical  and 
horribly  various  tyranny  that  ever  was  endured  :  and  as  he  is  unable  to 
do  it  by  war.  he  must  do  it  by  art.  Hence  many  things  he  must  sub- 
mit to,  many  mean  acta  he  must  commit,  because  he  has  to  deal  with 
the  meanest  and  lowest  of  men.  You  judge  him  harshly  ;  he  does  not 
do  the  thing  in  the  noblest  way,  but  he  does  do  it.  It  he  did  not  take 
money,  he  would  have  been  driven  from  the  field  long  ago.  If  he  fought, 
he  would  have  been  killed  long  ago.  He  is  a  general  to  be  provided  and 
paid,  for  the  sake  of  his  army  and  his  cause.  Don't  run  him  down,  or 
you  run  down  the  only  chance  of  poor  starving  wretches  here,  whose 
fate  depends  upon  his  success:' — Life  of  Sir  W.  Napier,  vol.  i  p.  458. 


630  &  CON  NELL  MAKES  A  RETREAT. 


this  Order.  It  is  probable  that  the  death  of  his  wife 
had  reminded  him  of  his  own  end,  and  given  a  holier,  if 
not  a  more  religious,  tone  to  his  thoughts.  Besides  his 
deep  love  for  his  own  faith,  there  was  a  certain  vein  of 
sympathetic  devotion  in  his  character  which  led  him  to 
appreciate  well  the  aesthetic  beauty  of  her  services.  For 
many  years  he  had  been  a  practical  Catholic;  he  had 
not  only  professed,  but  he  also  practised  his  religion. 
As  time  passed  on,  and  as  domestic  bereavements  re- 
minded him  that  he  must  also  be  judged  for  the  deeds 
done  in  the  flesh,  he  wished  to  think  a  little  that  he 
might  learn  what  had  been  amiss  (for  how  can  we  repent 
of  sins  of  which  we  are  ignorant?),  and  to  pray  a  little 
more  than  usual  for  the  mercy  of  which  he  might  so  soon 
have  need. 

There  are  many  gentlemen,  of  all  classes  of  society, 
who,  both  before  O'Connell's  time  and  since,  have  visited, 
and  continue  to  visit,  the  abbey  of  Mount  Melleray  for  the 
same  purpose. 

O'Connell  travelled  from  Dublin  with  Mr  O'Neil  Daui.t. 
in  his  own  carriage.  On  the  journey,  he  not  unnatur- 
ally looked  back  upon  his  past,  and  talked  of  his  long 
struggles  for  Catholic  Emancipation,  for  which  he  was 
then  enjoying  a  special  reward.  Had  he  not  obtained  this 
act  of  justice  from  England,  Catholics  would  have  been 
denied  the  assistance  of  such  holy  retreats,  and  of  such  help 
as  they  give  to  prepare  for  the  unending  life. 


REMINISCENCES  BY  THE  WAY. 


He  spoke  of  the  Clare  election,  and  again  asserted,  what, 
indeed,  no  one  lias  attempted  to  deny,  that  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  -ranted  Emancipation  through  fear,  from  the 
knowledge  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  army  was 
Catholic. 

It  was  on  this  occasion  that  O'Connell  told  the  followin  v 
anecdote  : — 

"  After  the  Clare  election,"  said  he,  "  there  was  a  remarkably  fino 
young  man  named  Ryan,  as  handsome  a  fellow  as  ever  I  saw,  who 
had  b^en  made  a  serjcant.  although  not  more  than  a  year  in  the 
army.  In  one  of  our  popular  processions  we  encountered  a  march- 
ing detachment ;  and  as  my  carriage  passed,  this  young  serjeant 
walked  away  from  his  men,  and  asked  me  to  shake  hands  with  him: 
*  In  acting  as  I  now  do,'  said  he,  'I  am  guilty  of  infringing  military 
discipline.  Perhaps  I  may  be  flogged  for  it— but  I  don't  care — let 
them  punish  me  in  any  way  they  please;  let  them  flog  me,  and  send 
me  back  to  the  ranks  ;  I  have  had  the  satisfaction  of  shaking  the 
hand  of  the  father  of  my  country.'  There  were  many  unequivocal 
indications  of  a  similar  spirit  in  the  army  ;  and,  doubtless,  such  a 
spirit  among  the  troops  was  not  without  its  due  weight  with  the 
Duke.  As  to  my  enthusiastic  friend,  the  young  serjeant,  I  after- 
wards learned  that  his  little  escapade  was  overlooked  ;  and  right 
glad  I  was  to  find  that  his  devotion  to  me  entailed  no  punishment 
upon  him." 

In  such  talk  the  day  passed,  and  the  gentlemen  slept  at 
the  "Royal  Oak."  They  resumed  their  journey  next 
morning  at  six  o'clock,  and  breakfasted  at  Kilkenny,  where 
O'Connell  was  waited  on  by  many  of  the  leading  Repealers, 
and  urged  very  earnestly  to  agitate  for  Repeal.  O'Connell 
replied  that  lie  was  perfectly  willing  to  do  so,  but  that  the 


632 


RECEPTION  AT  THE  ABBEY. 


period  had  not  yet  expired  which  he  had  decided  upon 
allowing  to  the  Imperial  Legislature  for  the  fulfilment  of 
the  promise  they  made  to  him  in  1834  to  do  justice  to 
Ireland. 

The  ascent  of  the  mountains  which  divide  Tipperary 
from  TYaterford  is  as  bleak  and  cold  as  the  southern 
descent  is  rich  and  beautiful.  When  passing  the  little 
village  of  Clogheen,  in  Tipperary,  the  weather  became  wet 
and  stormy,  and  at  last  blew  a  tremendous  gale.  The  drive 
from  Lismore  to  Mount  Melleray  is  exquisitely  beautiful ; 
but  as  the  travellers  arrived  at  the  abbey  after  dark,  they 
could  not  see  its  fine  proportions  until  the  following 
morning. 

O'Connell  was  received  at  the  outer  gate  by  a  proces- 
sion of  monks,  with  the  abbot  at  their  head.  They  had 
waited  all  the  afternoon  and  evening  for  his  appearance, 
and  had  placed  messengers  on  the  road  to  watch  his 
approach.  He  was  conducted  to  the  choir,  where  the  monks 
sang  one  of  their  grand  anthems ;  and  when  he  knelt,  the 
Te  Deum  Laudamus  was  intoned.  O'Connell  had  received 
many  ovations,  but  none  had  touched  his  heart  like  this. 
It  was  an  anticipation  of  the  eternal  welcome  which  alone 
can  reward  any  human  labour.  Amidst  the  pealing  of 
bells,  the  swaying  of  censers,  and  the  grand  solemn  voice 
of  monks,  he  felt  at  home,  for  he  had  come  to  prepare  for 
Home. 

An  address  was  then  presented  to  him,  to  which,  from 


ADOPTION  OF  CARTHUSIAN  RULES. 


execs?  of  emotion,  he  seemed  scarcely  able  to  reply ;  and  he 
afterwards  retired  into  solitude,  speaking  only  to  the  abbot, 
and  devoting  his  whole  time  to  prayer  and  recollection.9 

While  O'Connell  was  at  Mount  Melleray,  Mr  Viiliers 
Smart  called  on  Lira.  But  the  Liberator  had  given  orders 
that  he  was  not  to  be  disturbed  in  his  retreat,  and  Mr  Stuart 
was  obliged  to  retire.  A  few  days  after,  he  alluded  to  that 
circumstance  at  a  public  meeting  at  Lismore,  and  said, 
"  He  was  happy  to  find  that  Mr  CTConnell's  sojourn  at 
Mount  Melleray  had  not  infected  him  with  the  silence  of 
its  inmates,  as  his  adoption  of  the  Carthusian  rules  would 
seriously  injure  the  interests  of  popular  liberty  in  Ireland." 

The  following  letters  refer  to  political  events  in  the  year 
1837  :— 

"  May  26,  1837. 

M  MY  DEAR  Mr  O'CONNELL,  —In  accordance  with  the  wishes  of 
the  Clergy  of  this  diocese,  as  well  as  my  own,  I  beg  leave  to  transmit 
to  you  thei/  petition  on  the  approaching  Tithe  Bill,  accompanied 
with  their  request  that  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  present  it,  at 
your  earliest  convenience,  in  the  House  of  Commons.  I  cannot 
ixpiess  tc  you  how  great  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  people  is  at  tbe 
prospect  of  being  obliged  to  pay  the  full  amount  of  the  tithes  after 
the  hopes  so  often  held  out  to  them  of  being  released  from  the 
odious  impost.    Paying  it  to  the  landlord  rather  than  the  parson, 


tt  The  object  of  a  retreat  is  to  think  of  God,  of  heaven,  and  of  our 
own  helps  and  hindrances  on  the  road  thither.  We  are  indebted  to  the 
present  abbot  of  Mount  Melleray,  the  Right  Eev.  Dr  Fitzpatiick,  for  a 
copy  of  the  ad  lress  presented  to  Mr  O'Connell,  and  for  a  full  account  of 
his  visit ;  but  having  no  space  to  insert  it  here,  we  reserve  it  for  another 
work 


634 


LETTER  FROM  BR  MAC II ALE. 


they  do  not  conceive  to  be  any  benefit  to  them.  Though  it  cannot 
be  expected  that  they  should  be  all  at  once  relieved  from  the  incum- 
brance of  the  Protestant  Establishment,  there  should  be  at  least  a 
commencement  in  reducing  to  practice  the  principle  of  justice  by 
getting  rid  of  it  in  those  districts  in  which  the  Protestant  clergy 
have  no  congregations.  This  was  a  feature  in  last  year's  bill,  of 
which  the  omission  in  that  of  the  present  session  has  rendered  very 
unpopular.  The  former  gave  a  pledge,  by  this  incipient  reduction 
of  the  Establishment,  of  its  total  legislative  extinction  in  due  time. 
The  present  bill  holds  out  no  such  encouraging  prospect.  As  for 
the  ten  per  cent,  for  education,  the  sum  could  not  by  any  means 
reconcile  the  people  to  an  exactment  which  would  confirm  the  claims 
of  the  parsons  to  a  large  portion  of  the  tithes,  of  which  they 
have  so  precarious  a  tenure,  without  freeing  them  from  any  portion 
of  the  remainder.  On  no  other  measure  are  the  hearts  of  the  people 
so  much  fixed  as  on  their  release  from  contributing  to  the  support  of 
an  Establishment  that  is  ever  opposed  to  their  best  interests.  The 
Tithe  Bill  they  look  on  as  the  test  of  the  justice  which  has  been  so 
long  promised,  but  of  which  the  performance  is,  they  complain,  so 
long  delayed.  Such  is  the  general  feeling  throughout  this  extensive 
district,  as  I  have  learned  from  the  assembled  clergy,  and  which  we 
deemed  it  our  duty  to  convey  to  the  Legislature. 

"  Wishing  you  many  happy  years  to  aid  in  the  consummation  of 
that  justice  which  the  country  expects,  I  have  the  honour  to  remain, 

"  f  John  MacHale." 

Confidential. 

"  London,  Zlst  May  1837 
"  M\  DEAR  AND  REVERED  LORD, — I  had  the  honour  of  receiv- 
ing your  Grace's  letter,  and  the  still  more  cherished  honour  of  your 
confiding  to  me  the  petition  of  the  clergy  of  your  archdiocese.  It  is  a 
petition  fraught  with  matter,  and  pregnant  with  wants.  The  Ministry 
is  tottering  to  its  base,  and  the  old  oppressors  are  ready  again  to 
pounce  upon  Ireland.    I  am,  I  own,  timid,  and  could  have  wished 


LETTER   TO  DP,  MAC  HALE. 


635 


that  this  blow  had  not  been  given  to  the  falling  fabric  of  ministerial 
power.  I  do  believe  it  will  be  decisive  of  their  fate.  But  do  not 
Understand  these  as  tones  of  reproach.  I  may  be  sorrowful,  but  in 
plain  truth  I  can  have  no  elements  in  my  mind  which  could  create 
anger,  when,  as  in  this  instance,  the  wise  and  the  good  adopt  a  course 
too  bold  for  my  bumbler  temper.  What  I  grieve  at  is  simply  that  it 
should  have  been  necessary  for  your  Grace  to  have  adopted  that 
course  at  the  moment  of  all  others  most  critical  to  the  continuance 
ui  t tie  only  bearable  Government  Ireland  ever  experienced  since  the 
fatal  day  when  the  followers  of  the  murderer  of  Becket  polluted  our 
shores. 

u  Perhaps  I  would  have  been  anxious  to  have  canvassed  the  pre- 
sent tithe  measure  with  you  had  I  been  apprised  of  your  opinions 
upon  it.  It  is  now  too  late  ;  yet,  in  vindication  of  myself,  permit 
me  to  say — 1st,  That  this  bill  is  not  worse  than  the  bill  of  last 
year,  for  that  kept  a  parson  in  every  parish.  It  was  Lord  Morpeth's 
first  plan  which  excluded  resident  parsons  from  totally  Catholic 
parishes.  Even  that  first  plan  gave  a  species  of  missionary  fund  for 
fcvery  parish  whatsoever.  2d,  That  this  bill  gives  no  additional 
legal  'rivet'  to  our  chains.  The  Tithe  Composition  Acts  gave  legal 
rights  to  every  parson  to  the  fullest  extent  the  law  could  give 
them.  Stanley's  bill  riveted  and  completed  the  iron  bond  of  law ; 
it  is  not  possible  to  go  farther.  3d,  That  this  bid  gives  a  new  in- 
vestigation in  every  case  where  the  tithe  composition  is  too  high — 
a  matter  of  great  importance,  so  long  as  the  impost  remains  in  any 
shape.  4th,  That  this  bill  at  one  blow  strikes  off  .£30  per  cent,  of 
the  impost,  affording  a  precedent  for  going  further ;  and  if  such  a 
bill  passed,  it  would  be  the  first  law  directly  depriving  the  parsons, 
in  all  cases,  of  any  percentage.  5th,  That  it  appropriates  £10  per 
cent,  in  direct  terms  out  of  the  impost  to  other  than  parson  purpose* 
— namely,  to  education.  Thus  the  new  bill  would  introduce  a  new 
legislation  for  the  first  time,  taking  from  the  parsons  £40  per  cent., 
£30  as  reduction,  £10  as  appropriation,  operating  upon  both  ends 
of  the  scale. 


636 


LETTER   TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


"It  is  quite  true  that,  although  the  parsons  would  lose  by  this  bill 
£40  per  cent.,  there  is  this  difficulty,  that  the  landlords  would 
pocket,  in  many  instances,  part,  at  least,  of  the  £30  per  cent, 
reduced.  But  that  is  a  difficulty  inherent  in  the  abolition  of  tithes. 
In  spite  of  every  precaution  to  the  contrary,  there  is  that,  in  the 
present  agrarian  economy  of  Ireland,  of  a  mischievous  tendency  to 
throw  into  the  pockets  of  the  landlord  every  sum  of  which  the 
tenant  is  relieved.  This,  however,  is  not  to  be  attributed  as  a  fault 
to  Lord  Morpeth's  present  measure.  It  has  that  fault  in  common 
with  every  other  plan  of  partial  or  even  total  abolition. 

"  I  address  these  observations  to  your  Grace,  not  only  respect- 
fully, but,  I  will  venture  to  say,  in  sentiments  of  affectionate  respect. 
Your  character  is  indeed  cherished  by  me  in  a  mode  which  makes 
it  equally  reverenced  and  loved.  I  believe  your  Grace  to  be  a  great 
blessing,  bestowed  by  a  merciful  Providence  on  a  long  persecuted, 
and,  I  trust,  now  rising  and  spreading  religion.  Judge  then  how 
poignant  must  be  the  regret  with  whicli  I  differ  from  you  and 
from  your  eloquent  and  powerful  resolutions.  Perhaps,  indeed, 
my  more  feeble  judgment  is  clouded  by  my  apprehensions  of,  I 
fear,  the  now  certain  advent  of  Orange  restored  rule  in  Ireland, 
aggravated  as  that  bitter  misfortune  will  be  by  the  fact  that,  in  the 
exercise  of  a  conscientious  and  awful  duty,  the  clergy  of  Tuam  have 
been  under  the  necessity  of  accelerating  that  deplorable  restoration. 
But  the  motto  of  purer  spirits  has  ever  been,'  Fiat  jitstitia  mat  ca>hmi? 

"  I  do,  however,  my  revered  Lord,  feel  so  deeply  on  this  subject  that 
I  write  off  for  my  son,  who  is,  I  trust,  sufficiently  recovered  for  the 
journey  to  support  the  Ministers.  But  as  the  majority  of  the  Con- 
naught  members  will,  as  they  ought,  take  their  tone  from  your 
Grace,  the  consequence  will  be  the  Ministers  will  be  left  in  a 
minority;  and  as  they  came  into  power  on  the  Irish  Church  Bill,  so 
will  they  be  compelled  to  go  out  upon  the  same  subject.  The  old 
Judges  will  of  course  resign,  and  for  another  generation  justice/ / 1 
will  be  administered  to  the  Irish  people  by  the  Wests,  the  Jacksons, 
ike  Brewsters,  the  Lyttons,  and  the  Blackburns. 


LETTER   TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


637 


"  It  is  almost  in  despair  that  I  venture  to  suggest  to  your  Grace  just 
this— for  V011r  consideration— whether,  as  it  is  in  committee  of  the 
House  alterations  may  be  made  in  the  bill  in  all  its  details,  and  aa 
the  committee  comes  after  the  first  and  second  reading,  you  would 
think  it  right  to  write  to  each  of  the  friendly  Connaught  members, 
counselling  them  to  support  the  bill  into  committee,  and  when  there, 
endeavouring  to  extend  its  relief  and  lessen  its  mischief.  That 
would  probably  prevent  any  Catholic  from  being  a  party  to  the 
downfall  of  the  Mulgrave  Administration  in  Ireland.  But  if  this 
course  does  not  appear  to  your  cool  and  deliberate  judgment  to  be  a 
light  one,  then,  of  course,  your  Grace  will  treat  my  suggestion  as 
one  which  ought  not  to  be  acted  upon,  and,  at  all  events,  forgive 
me  for  making  it.  You  will  easily  estimate  the  deep,  the  absorb- 
ing anxiety  for  the  peace  of  Ireland,  which  alone  stimulates  me  to 
make  this  suggestion.  If,  however,  it  were  to  be  acted  upon,  it 
ought  to  be  done  without  delay.    This  I  submit  to  your  Grace. 

u  I  need  not  add,  that  although  I  myself  deem  Lord  Morpeth's  mea- 
sure a  valuable  instalment,  and  as  a  politician  know  how  it  would 
aid  my  next  move,  yet  I  will,  as  of  course  (sic),  do  every  justice  in 
my  power  to  the  petition  with  which  I  feel  so  highly,  so  truly  hon- 
oured But  I  will  not  present  it  until  I  have  an  opportunity  of 
learning  whether  the  sentiments  of  this  letter  render  me  in  your 
Grace's  eyes  less  fit  to  have  the  honour  of  presenting  it  to  the 
Ho„oe. 

"  The  King,  they  say,  is  recovering.  I  do  believe  that  a  sentiment 
uot  very  respectful  to  his  Majesty  made  many  choose  to  believe  he 
was  worse  than  he  really  was  ;  at  ail  events,  he  rubs  over  this  bout. 

u  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  sentiments  of  the  sincerest  re- 
spect, my  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  devoted  and  affectionate  servant, 

"Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale." 

"TuAM,/wn<!  4,  1837. 
"  My  dear  Mr  O'Connell, — I  have  been  favoured  with  your 
much  esteemed  letter  of  the  31st  ultimo.    It  is  impossible  for  ma 


638  LETTER  FROM  BR  MACE  ALE. 


to  make  any  adequate  return  for  the  kind  feelings  -which,  your  valued 
favour  conveys.  It  is  not  without  the  deepest  regret  that  I  could 
be  brought  to  differ  with  you  on  any  question  regarding  the  interests 
of  Ireland.  Your  indefatigable  exertions  in  its  behalf,  and  the 
unparalleled  services  you  have  already  rendered,  give  you  a  title  to 
tl-fc  just  confidence  of  all  your  countrymen.  Were  the  present  Tithe 
Bill  a  matter  of  mere  difference  of  opinion  between  us,  I  should 
acquiesce  in  your  superior  and  experienced  judgment.  Coming  in 
daily  contact  with  the  clergy,  and  having  a  good  deal  of  intercourse 
with  the  people  themselves,  I  can  state  that  I  never  knew  a  measure 
to  which  they  are  more  opposed.  Their  aversion  to  the  bill  is  such 
as  that  I  am  convinced  no  influence  that  the  clergy  could  exercise 
would  persuade  them  of  its  advantage.  The  thirty  per  cent,  to  the 
landlord,  so  far  from  looking  to  it  as  a  boon,  they  really  regard  as  an 
encouragement  to  that  body  to  unite  with  the  Establishment  in  the 
wish  to  perpetuate  the  impost  What  confirms  the  distrust  of  the 
people  in  the  measure  is,  that  the  bill  is  palatable  to  many  of  the 
parsons  of  the  country  and  to  the  Tory  landlords.  It  is  a  matter  of 
notoriety  that  some  of  the  latter  laboured  to  have  public  meetings 
to  petition  the  Legislature  to  pass  the  bill  into  law.  We  endeavoured 
to  convey  to  them  the  impression  of  the  people,  that  they  considered 
the  Tithe  Bill  anything  but  justice.  Besides  our  own  opinions,  we 
gave  expression  to  the  deep  and  general  discontent  it  excited. 

"  Had  the  people  any  doubt  of  its  tendency  to  fasten  the  tithe 
system  on  them,  they  would  be  convinced  of  it  by  finding  the  mea- 
sure hailed  by  many  of  their  old  oppressors.  Nothing  could  have 
been  further  from  our  minds  than  a  wish  to  embarrass  the  Govern- 
ment by  unnecessary  remonstrance.  As  they  professed  an  anxiety 
to  do  justice  to  the  people,  their  tithe  measure  was  not  regarded 
as  any  approximation  to  that  justice,  and  that  they  mistake 
their  silence  for  acquiescence.  It  would  not  be  just  to  the  Go- 
vernment to  let  them  imagine  that  they  would  be  conferring  a 
favour  by  a  measure  which  we  knew  excited  general  discontent. 
We  were  therefore  impelled  by  a  deep  sense  of  duty  to  convey  the 


ESTER.  Tl  IX  E D  IS  LOXDOS. 


seasonable  re*  -  -.  -  •".  "  • :  -  • '-.  .  -  ■;  r: 
MM  might  be  indnced  to  make  larger  concessions  to  the  jnst 
demand*  of  the  people.  Having  embodied  in  onr  resolutions  and 
petition  me  general  feelings  and  deliberate  opinions  of  the  as- 
sembled rlergy,  as  well  as  of  their  flocks,  I  could  not,  without  for- 
feiting their  confidence,  tike  -:pon  myself  to  control  the  effect  which 
•fcef  night  hare  on  their  representatives.  I  regret  mnch  that  the 
Ijovernment  has  not  taken  a  frmer  stand  in  endeavouring  to  realise 
its  professions  to  do  justice.  By  its  frustrate  attempts  to  conciliate 
the  Tories,  its  strength  has  been  gradnally  impaired.  Honing  that 
by  dnng  more  justice  to  Ireland  it  may  still  retrieve  itself  to  its 
limner  vigour,  I  am,  <fcc.  <fcc,  4-  J  m  M M  Hals. 

■  To  Mr  OConneILw 

In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1838.  O'Connell  was  actively 
engaged  in  promoting  Catholic  interests  in  London.  On 
the  21st  of  July  he  was  publicly  entertained  at  the  Crown 
and  Anchor  Tavern  in  London.  A  number  of  membera  of 
Parliament  were  present,  and  the  chairman,  Sir  Lacy  de 
EvansT  said  that  O'Connell  was  "  the  object  of  the  atten- 
tion of  the  whole  Empire,  an  :  ulmiration  of  the  best 
and  most  enlightened  men.  not  only  of  England,  but  of 
the  world.** 

This  is  re"  another  :  •:  -  " .  P  the  ' n  :orrectness  of  "he 
id  3a.  which  has  been  so  popular  of  Late  years,  that  O'Con- 
nell was  a  mere  demacr-'zue,  wlu»  kopt  the  English  Cabinet 
in  fear,  not  by  the  power  of  his  mind,  but  by  the  vi-heiice 
of  his  action. 

At  the  conclus   q  jf  his  speech,  he  sai  l — 
"A  sensa::  :n   f  awe  came  over  him  wiien  he  beheld  such  an  as- 
semblage in  any  way  connected  ai:h  his  humble  name.    T»\  ha:  mm 


640 


SPEECH  ON  THE  OCCASION. 


it  that  had  brought  so  many  independent  Englishmen  to  pay  a  com- 
pliment to  him?  He  believed  the  compliment  was  paid  to  the  great 
principle  on  which  he  had  always  acted — that  of  avoiding  the  pro- 
secution of  political  advantages  by  force,  violence,  or  fraud.  .  .  . 
The  Irish  Reform  Bill  ought  to  have  been  more  extensive  ;  it  was 
full  of  faults,  and  the  worst  part  of  it  was  that  it  exposed  Ireland 
to  all  the  machinations  of  the  Spottiswoode  gang,  to  pecuniary  cor- 
ruption in  its  worst  form,  and,  above  all,  to  the  perjury  of  Tory 
committees.  He  had  said  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  he  re- 
peated it  now,  that  Ireland  was  not  safe  from  the  perjury  of  Eng- 
lish and  Scotch  gentlemen.  They  sacrificed  their  conscience  to  party 
— it  was  horrible  to  think  of  it;  persons  who  were  gentlemen  in 
rank  and  fortune,  who  ought  by  their  conduct  to  preach  morality 
to  others,  and  who  dispensed  justice  from  magisterial  benches — was 
it  not  horrible  that  they  should  be  perjuring  themselves  hourly  as 
members  of  committees  in  the  House  of  Commons  ?  But  the  time 
was  come  when  this  should  be  proclaimed  boldly.  He  was  ready 
to  be  the  martyr  to  justice  and  truth,  though  not  to  false  swearing  \ 
and  therefore  he  repeated  that  there  was  foul  perjury  in  the  Tory 
committees  of  the  House  of  Commons.  He  asked  them,  was  it  not 
their  duty  to  assist  him  in  putting  an  end  to  this  system ;  to  give 
him  their  assistance  in  rendering  the  Irish  Beform  Bill  at  least  as 
perfect  as  theirs  ;  and  to  give  to  Ireland  the  same  measure  of  muni- 
cipal reform  England  already  enjoyed  1  He  wanted  all  alike — for 
now  they  were  all  unlike." 

This  was  brought  before  the  House,  and  O'Connell  was 
ordered  to  be  reprimanded;  but,  like  Lord  Edward  Fitz- 
gerald, who  only  reasserted  his  original  assertion  when  de- 
sired to  apologise  in  the  Irish  Commons,  he  merely  replied, 66 1 
express  no  regret,  I  retract  nothing,  I  repent  nothing.  I  do 
not  desire  unnecessarily  to  use  hard  or  offensive  language. 
I  wish  I  could  find  terms  less  objectionable  and  equally 


VCONtTBLVS  DISINTERESTEDNESS.  641 

Significant ;  but  I  cannot,  I  am  bound  to  reassert  what  I 
asserted." 

O'Connell  expected  to  be  sent  to  the  Tower,  but  the 
Tories  were  afraid  of  him.  Indeed,  an  effort  was  made 
even  dm, ng  this  year  to  conciliate  him.  He  was  offered 
the  Chief  Baron's  seat,  but  he  refused.  Those  who  have 
ventured  to  assert  that  O'Connell  was  not  a  disinterested 
lover  r*  his  people  and  his  native  land,  should  ask  them- 
selves how  many  are  there  who  would  have  refused  such  an 
offer,  above  all,  when  he  might  have  pleaded  a  need  for 
rest  in  old  age,  and  that  his  work  was  done  since  Emanci- 
pation had  been  obtained?1 

During  the  year  1838,  O'Connell  kept  up  a  constant 
correspondence  with  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam.  In  July 
he  sent  him  the  following-  circular  letter  on  the  subject  of 
the  Dublin  Revien\  which  was  then  conducted  with  remark- 
able ability.  For  some  years  the  articles  contained  in  it 
were  a  credit  to  the  nationality,  and  to  the  faith  of  its 

1  The  following  extract  from  Mr  Daunt's  work  shows  that  the  refusal 
cost  O'Connell  a  good  deal  : — "  This  is  very  kind— very  kind  indeed," 
said  O'Connell ;  i{  but  I  have  not  the  least  notion  of  taking  the  offer. 
Ireland  could  not  spare  me  now;  not  but,  if  she  could,  I  don't  at  all 
J  my  that  the  office  would  have  great  attractions  for  me.  Let  me  see 
now.  There  would  not  be  more  than  about  eighty  days'  duty  in  the  year. 
I  would  take  a  country-house  near  Dublin,  and  walk  into  town  ;  and 
during  the  intervals  of  judicial  labour,  I'd  go  to  Darrynane.  I  should 
be  idle  in  the  early  part  of  April,  just  when  the  jack-hares  leave  the 
most  splendid  trails  upon  +he  mountains.  In  fact,  I  should  enjoy  the 
office  exceedingly  on  e^'ery  account,  if  I  could  but  accept  it  consistently 
with  the  interests  of  Ireland ;  but  I  cannot." 

2  s 


642 


TEE  "DUBLIN  REVIEW? 


principal  contributors.  The  most  important  questions  of 
the  day  were  taken  up  by  men  of  remarkable  ability,  most 
of  whom  were  professors,  some  of  whom  were  even  students, 
in  Maynooth.  O'Connell  and  Dr  Wiseman  were  the  guid- 
ing spirits.  Subjects  relating  to  Ireland  naturally  ob- 
tained a  prominent  place,  for  it  was  well  known  that  but 
for  Ireland  and  Irish  Catholics  the  Review  would  probably 
never  have  existed,  and  that  the  Irish  Catholics  were  an 
overwhelming  majority.  But  polemics  were  not  neglected, 
and  were  handled  with  singular  ability  and  trenchant  force. 
Many  of  tbe  early  converts  to  the  Catholic  faith  owe  their 
conviction  of  Catholic  truth  to  the  masterly  refutations  of 
errors  contained  in  articles  penned  in  Ireland  by  an  Irish 
priest.  Truth  was  put  forth  boldly  and  broadly,  and  the 
subtleties  of  metaphysical  theology  were  relegated  to  the 
schools. 

The  original  of  the  following  letter  is  a  lithograph,  the 
word  u  Lordship"  being  crossed  out  by  O'Connell,  and 
6 i  Grace"  substituted.  It  may  be  only  a  little  matter,  but 
little  matters  are  often  characteristic;  and,  undoubtedly, 
one  of  O'Connell's  marked  characteristics  in  minor  affairs 
was  his  remarkable  and  unvarying  courtesy  of  manner 
and  resp  ctfulness  of  tone  in  addressing  the  hierarchy 
or  the  priesthood. 

"  16  Pall  Mall,  London,  ISth  February  1838. 
"My  Lord, — I  beg  leave  very  respectfully  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  Dublin  Review,  of  which  I  am  one  of  the  proprietors. 

"  The  object  with  which  this  publication  was  instituted  was  and 


LETTER   TO  DR  MACE  ALE. 


643 


Is  to  afford  the  Catholic  literature  of  these  countries  a  fair  and 
legitimate  mode  of  exhibiting  itself  to  the  people  of  the  British 
Empire,  and  especially  to  the  people  of  Ireland,  it,  the  shape  most 
likely  to  produce  a  permanent  as  well  as  useful  effect.  The  other 
quarterly  publications  are  in  the  hands  either  of  avowed  and 
malignant  enemies  of  Catholicity,  or  of  what  is  worse,  insidious  and 
pretended  friends,  who  affect  a  false  liberality  at  the  expense  of 
Catholic  doctrines. 

"The  Dublin  Review,  though  not  intended  for  purely  polemical 
discussion,  contains  many  articles  of  the  deepest  interest  to  the 
Well-informed  Catholic  disputant.  The  name  of  Dr  Wiseman,  who 
is  also  a  proprietor  of  the  work,  ensures  the  orthodoxy  of  the 
opinions  contained  in  it,  and  will  be  admitted  to  be  in  itself  a  pledge 
of  the  extent,  and  depth,  and  variety  of  its  scientific,  as  well  as 
theological  information. 

"  The  seventh  number  is  just  published.  The  former  numbers  can 
be  had  either  bound,  or  any  one  of  them  separately.  Mr  Staunton  of 
the  Morning  Register,  is  in  Dublin,  the  agent  for  Ireland.  He  will 
transmit  the  last,  or  any  other  number  you  please,  to  you  free  of 
carriage. 

"  To  sustain  this  publication,  which,  while  Catholicity  is  assailed 
by  so  many  virulent  enemies,  and  has  so  few  friends  among  the 
periodical  literature,  appears  to  me  to  be  an  object  of  considerable 
importance  ;  it  will  be  necessary  to  increase  its  circulation,  and 
augment  the  number  of  purchasers.  It  is  for  this  purpose  that  I 
respectfully  solicit  your  aid  and  friendly  co-operation. 

u  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  Lord,  your  Grace's  most  faithful 
servant,  Daniel  O'Connell. 

4  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale,  &c." 

The  following  letter  is  written  in  O'ConnelPs  own  hand- 
writing, on  the  back  of  the  lithographed  letter  : — 

"Private. 

"P.S. — In  calling  the  attention  of  your  Grace  to  the  enclosed 


LETTER  FROM  BR  MAC II ALE. 


circular,  I  venture  respectfully  to  direct  your  notice  to  my  opposi- 
tion to  the  present  scheme  of  poor-laws.  It  is  a  subject  on  which 
I  have  dwelt  long  and  painfully,  on  which,  if  I  be  in  error,  I  am 
exceedingly  culpable.  But  my  objections  depend  much  on  the 
effects  to  be  produced  on  the  ratepayers.  An  additional  tax  of  one 
million  at  the  least — affecting  in  the  first  instance,  and  almost  ex- 
clusively, the  occupiers — fills  me  with  alarm;  especially  as  imprison- 
ment in  a  workhouse  is  the  only  relief  to  be  given;  that  is,  all 
relief  is  to  be  administered  solely  to  persons  inhabiting  the  work- 
house. 

"  Your  Grace  must  have  seen  my  plan  for  the  abolition  of  tithes. 
It  would  abolish  them  in  toto,  and  throw  the  payment  of  Protestant 
clergy  on  the  Consolidated  Fund,  giving  to  England  and  Scotland 
the  same  interest  in  abolishing  sinecure  livings  in  Ireland  as  the 
Irish  have. 

"I  conclude  with  the  expression  of  my  most  respectful  and  affec- 
tionate regard,  and  sincere  veneration." 

Dr  MacHale's  reply,  of  which  his  Grace  has  kept  a  copy, 
will  he  read  with  interest. 

«  Tuam,  27 th  February  1838. 

"My  DEAH  Mr  O'CONNELL,— I  have  been  favoured  with  your 
esteemed  letter  regarding  the  Dublin  Revieiv,  and  I  entirely  concur  in 
your  views  as  to  the  benefits  of  such  a  periodical.  It  has  already  been 
the  medium  of  circulating  many  articles  calculated  to  place  our 
religion  in  very  favourable  light  before  its  enemies.  It  is  unneces- 
sary to  say  that  I  have  been  from  the  commencement  a  subscriber. 
It  would,  I  think,  command  greater  circulation  by  having  the 
booksellers  in  the  local  districts  engaged  in  its  sale,  and  entitled  to 
the  centage  they  receive  on  such  periodicals. 

"So  impressed  have  I  been  with  the  evils  with  which  the  present 
Poor  Provision  Bill  is  fraught,  that,  before  the  receipt  of  your  re- 
spected letter,  I  published  that  I  coincided  in  your  opposition  to  its 
details.    1  ventured,  too,  to  express  my  surprise  at  the  perseveranco 


LETTER  FROM  BR  MACEALE. 


C4.3 


of  the  Government  in  pressing  such  a  measure,  with  the  conscious- 
ness of  their  dependence  on  the  support  of  the  Irish  representatives 
and  of  the  obnoxiousness  of  the  measure  to  the  feeling-;  and  the 
interests  of  the  Irish  people.  They  have  not,  it  may  be  said,  mani- 
fested this  feeling  by  a  corresponding  number  of  petitions.  The  fact 
is,  they  tell  us  they  are  tired  of  petitioning,  and  though  some  should 
send  petitions,  others,  adopting  the  philosophy  of  what  is  is  best, 
required  more  than  ordinary  stimulants,  as  you  know,  to  rouse  them 
to  the  least  exertion  iu  behalf  of  their  country,  nay,  of  religion. 
Besides,  they  do  not  see  among  their  representatives  themselves  that 
arrayed  and  concentrated  junction  of  the  strength  once  character- 
istic of  them,  and  which  alone  cau  ensure  justice  to  Ireland. 

M  The  result  of  the  ballot  has  not  escaped  their  notice,  and  they 
deplore  that  place  has  Lad  the  effect  of  making  some  vote  against  a 
measure  essential  to  their  protection.  I  wish  I  could  be  able  to  have 
your  views  on  the  tithe  system  carried  into  effect,  so  as  to  have  the 
payment  of  Protestant  clergy  charged  on  the  Consolidated  Fund. 
I  should  hail  such  a  measure  as  an  excellent  instalment,  siuce  then 
we  could  securely  calculate  on  the  co-operation  of  England  and 
Scotia n  l  in  finally  doing  justice  as  far  as  regarded  the  Protestant 
Establishment. 

"  There  is  another  subject  regarding  the  interests  of  our  religion 
on  which  you  may  do  incalculable  service.  It  is  for  procuring  a 
grant  for  the  separate  education  of  Catholic  children.  Tnis  is  the 
subject,  and  the  only  one,  of  which  the  Catholic  bishops  of  Ireland 
have  expressed  their  solemn  and  unanimous  approval.  It  must  come 
to  this  at  last  The  lamented  indisposition  of  Dr  Murray  occasioned 
the  adjournment  of  this  question  at  our  last  meeting,  and  prevented 
our  adoption  of  any  resolution  on  the  subject.  The  present  system 
is  far  from  being  popular,  nay,  many  of  the  bishops  are  conscious 
it  is  full  of  danger.  I  know  that  separate  education  would  not  be 
relished  at  present  by  the  Government ;  I  know,  too,  that  many, 
with  an  erroneous  feeling  of  liberality,  cherish  the  plan  of  mixed 
education.    I  like  religion  to  be  as  free  as  air,  which  is  the  only 


646 


LETTER   TO   DR  MAC  HALE. 


true  liberality,  and  the  fate  of  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  the  in- 
justice of  which  you  have  so  eloquently  denounced,  and  which  is 
the  fruit  of  a  plausible  system  of  mixed  education,  can  attest  the 
benefits  or  evils  of  such  a  prospect. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  yours,  "|-  John  MacIIale." 

O'Connell  replied — 

"Merrion  Square,  lith  April  1838. 

"  My  very  respected  Lord, — I  need  not  tell  you  with  what  a 
deep  interest  and  profound  respect  I  have  followed  your  Grace's 
exposition  of  the  present  system  of  national  education.  I  pretend 
not  to  decide  ;  but  I  do  know  that  vigilance  was  never  misplaced 
whilst  'the  wolf  is  on  his  walk.' 

"  I  have  now  to  implore  of  your  Grace  to  read  the  Pilot  of  Mon- 
day before  you  form  your  decided  opinion  on  the  new  tithe  plan. 
You  will  find  in  it  my  view  of  Lord  John  Russell's  tithe  resolutions. 
They  contain  much  I  dislike,  but  also  have  a  smack  of  better 
principle,  and  of  more  easy  application  of  future  remedy,  than  the 
present  system.  I  certainly  do  not  mean  to  bestow  anything  like 
ungrateful  praise  upon  them  ;  but  you  will  judge  me  and  my  opinions 
with  impartiality,  though,  I  know,  mixed  with  kindness. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  the  most  fervent  wishes  for  yout 
health  and  long  life,  of  your  Grace  the  most  devoted  and  affectionate 
servant,  Daniel  O'Connell." 

"Tuam,  2dth  April  18^8. 

"My  dear  Mr  O'Connell, — I  waited  for  the  appearance  of 
your  promised  letter  on  the  tithes  before  I  should  acknowledge 
your  favour  of  the  14th,  directing  my  attention  to  that  exposition. 

"  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  bill  falls  far  short  of  what  the 
Ministry  was  pledged  to,  and  the  people  of  Ireland  expected.  It 
ha?  no  appropriation  clause.  It  does  not  reduce  one  of  the  super- 
numerary parsons,  even  where  a  single  Protestant  is  not  fo  ind  :  nor 
does  it,  out  of  the  reduction  of  thirty  per  cent.,  if  I  understand  the 


LETTER  FROM  DR  M ACH ALE. 


647 


resolutions  correctly,  give  any  advantage  to  the  occupying  tenantry. 
As  for  the  surplus  to  be  applied  to  the  purposes  of  education,  1 
must  frankly  own,  that  if  he  meant  to  apply  it  as  the  funds  in 
management  of  this  education  board,  it  would  be  a  curse  rather 
a  blessing.  I  am  delighted  that  you  have  turned  your  attention 
to  the  bearings  and  workings  of  the  present  plan.  Nothing  can  be 
more  interesting  to  a  statesman  concerned  than  the  moral  improve- 
ment of  a  people,  and  especially  to  a  Catholic  filled  with  zeal  for  the 
purity  of  bis  religion.  Now,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  an  anti- 
Catholic  Government  is  labouring  to  upset  an  essential  principle, 
and  to  usurp  the  right  of  inculcating  religious  doctrine  through 
books  and  masters  of  their  own  exclusive  selection.  I  could  be 
silent  for  ever  on  repeal,  or  even  the  tithe  system,  with  all  its 
baneful  appendages  ;  but  when  I  see  a  Government  requiring 
a  compromise  and  surrender  of  religion  as  the  condition  of  its 
support,  so  much  so,  that  I  have  known  high  ecclesiastics, 
otherwise  pious,  to  own  that  they  are  silent  from  a  fear  of 
embarrassing  the  Ministry,  I  cannot  comprehend  any  reason  for 
justifying  such  expediency.  Now,  the  Ministry,  if  anxious  to  lay 
the  foundations  of  concord  as  well  as  prosperity,  must  banish  every- 
thing vicious  from  the  system  of  education.  The  greater  number  of 
the  present  members  of  the  beard  are  rank  infidels.  The  books 
which  they  put  into  the  hands  of  children  are  calculated  to  unsettle 
their  belief,  or,  at  least,  to  diminish  their  reverence  for  the  faith  of 
their  fathers  ;  and  by  the  entire  system  it  is  intended,  as  is  acknow- 
ledged by  a  competent  authority  (Mr  A.  R.  Blake),  to  place  the 
religious  education  of  the  Catholics  in  the  hands  of  the  crown.  Now, 
setting  religion  aside,  you  can  best  estimate  the  consequence  of 
such  a  prospect  in  the  abridgement  of  the  liberties  of  the  people. 
By  a  timely  interference,  the  Irish  members  may  prevent  much 
angry  discussion,  which  must  eventually  terminate  in  the  correction 
of°any  plan  by  which  the  Government  would  attempt  to  inter- 
fere with  the  legitimate  authority  of  the  pastors  or  the  religious 
liberty  of  the  people.    You  know  well  the  unconquerable  attach- 


648 


TEE  PRECURSOR  SOCIETY. 


ment  of  all  classes  to  their  faith.  As  I  live,  I  shall  not  cease  to 
expose  and  denounce  any  attempt  to  interfere  with  that  faith ; 
and  the  more  they  try  to  silence  me,  the  louder  will  be  my  re- 
monstrance ;  for  we  must  have  complete  religious  freedorn. 

"Wishing  you  every  happiness  and  energy  in  effecting  those 
objects  that  are  still  wanting  to  religious  freedom,  I  have  the 
honour,  &c,  John  MacHale." 

In  August  1838,  O'Coimell  commenced  a  vigorous  agi- 
tation in  Ireland,  and  established  what  he  called  the 
"  Precursor  Society,"  as  a  last  effort  to  obtain  full  justice 
to  Ireland  from  the  British  Legislature.  His  earnest  desire 
to  have  both  the  sanction  and  assistance  of  Dr  MacHale 
is  evident  from  the  following  correspondence  : — 

Private. 

"Daiikynane  Abbey,  Uli  September  1838. 
"  My  VENERATED  LORD, — I  feel  the  deepest  anxiety  that  my 
present  plan  of  agitation  should  meet  favour  in  your  eyes,  because 
that  would  show  that  an  intellect  of  the  first  order  concurred  with 
my  humble  judgment.  That  judgment  induces  me  to  mark  that  we 
have  arrived  at  a  period  in  which  we  may  attain  all  we  politically 
desire,  or  at  least,  much  of  it,  if  we  take  the  proper  means  of  achiev- 
ing our  objects. 

"  The  aspect  of  public  affairs  is  such  as  seems  propitious  to  our 
pressing  our  claims.  The  unfortunate  state  of  the  crop  will  produce  a 
winter  and  spring  in  England  in  which  the  working  classes  will  suffer 
much  ;  and  their  political  discontent  already  exhibits  itself  in  a  shape 
which  may  become  truly  formidable  when  aggravated  by  personal  dis- 
tress and  individual  misery  such  as  a  scanty  crop  is  sure  to  produce. 
There  is  also  much  brooding  discontent  on  the  Continent,  much  more,! 
believe,  than  is  usually  suspected.  Some  Prussian  regiments  the  other 


LETTER   TO  BR  MA  CHILE. 


619 


day  cried  out  for  a  constitution.  It  is  true  the  soldiers  were  drunk  ; 
but  drunkenness  is,  to  a  proverb,  sincere.  But  confining  myself  to 
the  British  Empire,  the  poorer  classes  are  all  disgusted  and  irritated 
at  the  limited  franchise  conceded  by  the  Reform  Bill,  and  amidst 
theii  clamours  is  our  time  to  press  claims  founded  on  eternal  justice. 
1  may  be  greatly  mistaken,  but  I  do  think  that  an  additional 
bonu>  of  15  or  even  25  per  cent,  to  the  landed  interest  would 
bring  them  over  to  separate  the  •  rent-charge  '  from  the  Church,  not 
of  the  people,  and  have  them  easily  consent  to  appropriate  the 
remaining  50  per  cent,  to  purposes  of  real  and  public  utility.  I 
do  believe  that  steady  and  universal  exertion  would  free  us  from 
the  incubus  of  the  State  paid  Church,  and  obtain  for  us  all  we 
desire  besides.  If,  indeed,  these  things — I  mean  disconnection  of 
the  State  from  the  Church,  and  real  corporate  reform — were 
achieved,  we  should  then  have  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  of 
the  Irish  of  every  persuasion  friendly  to  a  domestic  Parliament.  If 
Conuaught  aids  us  with  the  efficiency  which  your  Grace  can  put  in 
motion,  if  you  deem  it  right,  we  will  have  such  an  overwhelming 
majority  of  the  Irish  nation  with  us  that  the  Lord-Lieutenant  may 
go  on  to  preach  patience  to  the  winds.  The  time  for  impatience  is 
arrived.  I  think  your  province  has  given  strong  symptoms  of  the 
prevalence  of  a  similar  opinion  much  earlier,  and,  perhaps,  more 
correctly  formed  ;  but  if  you  now,  my  Lord,  think  we  ought  to  be 
aided,  I  would  venture  to  promise  complete  success  to  this  agitation. 
Perhaps  the  fate  of  Ireland  depends  on  your  decision.  Thousands 
of  '  Precursors,'  headed  by  the  dreaded  name  of  '  John  Tuam,'  would 
make  an  impression  just  now  beyond  any  ever  before  made  by  a 
numerical  force. 

I  will  await  your  Grace's  reply  with  no  small  impatience.  You 
will  have  seen  in  the  Pilot  of  Monday  last  my  first  letter,  with  its 
objects  in  detail.  How  delighted  I  shall  be  if  you  think  it  right  to 
enrol  yourself  as  a  '  Precursor ! '  But  in  every  case,  and  always, 
believe  me  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  of  your  Grace  the  most 
faithful  servant,  DANIEL  ffCONNMJ. 

■  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale,  <fec" 


«50 


LETTER  FROM  DR  MAC  HALE. 


"  Tuam,  26iA  September  1838. 
"My  dear  Mr  O'Connell.— After  being  absent  for  some  time, 
on  my  return  I  found  here  your  much  respected  favour.  I  fully 
agree  with  you  that,  to  secure  the  rights  that  are  so  insultingly 
denied  them,  the  people  must  depend  on  their  own  strenuous 
exertions. 

"Indeed,  they  appear  already  to  have  been  brought  to  that  convic- 
tion, and  hence  the  activity  with  which  they  are  bestirring  them- 
selves throughout  all  parts  of  the  country. 

"  For  a  long  time  they  felt  but  little  confidence  in  the  present 
Ministry ;  the  Tithe  Bill,  in  which  they  abandoned  the  principle  on 
which  they  ousted  their  predecessors  from  office,  has  filled  up  the 
measure  of  the  public  distrust. 

"  If  the  Ministers  fancied  that  the  Irish  people  could  acquiesce  in  so 
unjust  a  law,  tliey  must  already  be  convinced  of  their  mistake,  that 
all  the  united  influence  of  the  kingdom  could  not  reconcile  the  people 
to  an  impost  which  is  growing  every  day  more  odious  ;  and  hence  the 
Catholic  clergy,  in  denouncing  the  Tithe  Bill,  and  urging  the 
necessity  of  an  immediate  resumption  of  the  cpiestion  in  Parlia- 
ment, are  only  expressing  the  opinion  and  seconding  the  views  of 
the  people. 

"  It  is  my  sincere  opinion  that  the  people  are  justified  in  their  fre- 
quent and  emphatic  intensifications,  What  has  been  done  for  them  ? 

"Nay,  more,  they  have  no  reason  to  expect  much  since  the  Mini- 
sters have  declared  against  granting  those  measures  on  which  you 
are  insisting.  If  they  expressed  an  inclination  to  extend  the  suf- 
frage or  to  enlarge  the  number  of  our  representatives,  or  to  reduce 
the  Established  Church  to  the  dimensions  required  by  justice,  then 
indeed  might  there  be  reason  for  hope. 

"  But  from  our  present  rulers  what  hope  can  we  entertain,  when, 
besides,  with  their  inability,  they  proclaim  their  unwillingness  to  do 
VLB  justice  by  insisting  on  the  finality  of  reform,  &c.  1 

u>  It  is  my  conviction  that  the  unreserved  confidence  which  hai 
been  hitherto  placed  in  the  Ministry  has  had  a  baneful  influence  on 


LETTER   TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


6.51 


the  interests  of  Ireland,  and  that,  if  they  were  taught  to  feel  that 
measures  of  general  good,  and  not  of  individual  benefits  would  be 
the  test  of  the  public  confidence,  something  would  have  been  done 
for  the  country.  If  the  Ministers  recall  their  declaration,  that  are 
on  record,  and  which  almost  preclude  us  from  hope,  then  might  all 
m  their  exertions  for  the  country  identify  their  exertions  with  the 
8up:»  rt  of  our  present  rulers. 

"  If  they  do  not,  I  do  not  perceive  that  they  have  any  claims  to 
gratitude,  and  the  people  must  strive  to  force  on  them  by  moral 
influence  the  necessity  of  doing  justice  to  Ireland,  not  in  name  but 
in  reality. 

•Wishing  you  every  happiness,  I  have  the  honour  to  remain, 
my  dear  Mr  O'Counell,  yours  respectfully, 

-  +  John  MacHale.'1 

"  DiiBTlin  Abbey,  4tk  October  1838. 
"  My  rfspected  Lord,— 1  wish  I  could  be  as  sanguine  as  you 
are  that  the  people  will  persevere  in  that  course  of  agitation  with 
which  there  is  no  hope  for  Ireland.    I  know  to  a  certainty  the 
Ministry  tie  taking  every  means  in  their  power  to  oppose  the 
organisation  of  the  4  Precursor  Society.'    I  have  been  written  to 
menacingly — I  may  call  it  so  ;  but  their  menaces,  I  need  not  tell 
your  Grace,  I  despise.    Let  them  threaten  away.    There  are  indeed 
several  of  the  Ministry  exceedingly  anxious  to  be  out  of  office  ;  and 
I  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  are  seriously  thinking  of  resign- 
ing.   All  of  them  do  not  concur  in  this  view,  but  so  many  do  as  to 
make  it  highly  improbable  they  should  face  Parliament  again.  This, 
of  course,  I  say  in  the  strictest  confidence ;  but  it  is  right  that  you 
should  know  the  facts.    The  Tories,  when  they  come  in,  will  do 
Bad  work  in  Ireland,  but  we  must  do  ail  we  can  to  make  them. 

"  The  only  comfort  I  have  is,  that  we  have  assisted  the  Whigs  aa 
long  as  there  was  any,  even  the  slightest,  prospect  of  their  obtain- 
ing for  Ireland  any  one  advantage.  Nor  did  we  desert  them  until 
their  incompetency  to  do  us  good  almost  equalled  their  unwillingness 
to  exert  themselves  for  us.    It  is,  indeed,  a  dismal  prospect  to  have 


052 


LETTER   TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


the  insolent  Tories  again  in  power ;  but  the  fault  is  not  ours.  My 
present  anxiety  is  to  have  our  organisation  completed  during  the 
reign  of  the  present  Ministers.  It  is  that  which  takes  me  up  to 
Dublin  in  November.  The  four  principles  of  our  new  agitation  are 
■ — 1st,  Complete  corporate  reform ;  2d,  Extension  of  the  suffrage  • 
3d,  Total  extension  of  compulsory  Church  support ;  and  4th,  Ade- 
quate representation  in  Parliament.  These  seem  to  me  to  constit  ute 
the  proper  basis  of  future  agitation.  On  these  I  think  we  should 
organise  for  that  contest  which  is  now  inevitable.  When  the  Tories 
return  to  power  they  of  course  will  again  endeavour  to  establish  the 
ascendency  of  the  Protestant  clergy  and  aristocracy.  It  seems  to 
me  that  it  would  be  highly  useful,  or,  at  least,  that  it  is  the  prudent 
course,  to  have  our  organisation  as  perfect  as  we  well  can  before  the 
enemy  assumes  the  reins  of  government.  I  entreat  the  consideration 
of  your  Grace  to  these  topics,  as  this  is  the  best  plan  for  future 
agitation,  or  can  you  assist  me  with  any  other  1  Connaught  will 
naturally  go  with  your  Grace.  If  you  approve  of  my  project  we 
shall  have  from  the  'west  "abundant"  precursors.'  I  fear  much 
for  the  result  unless  I  can  procure  your  aid,  depending,  as  that  aid 
must,  on  your  deliberate  and  powerful  judgment.  I  see  a  mistake 
committed  by  several  speakers  at  the  great  tithe  meetings.  It  is  in 
seeking  for  the  repeal  of  the  Tithe  Bill  of  last  session  without 
repeating  at  the  same  time  Lord  Stanley's  Tithe  Bill  ;  the  first 
which  removed  the  payment  of  the  tithe  composition  from  the 
tenants  to  the  landlords.  It  is  astonishing  how  rapidly  Stanley's 
Act  was  prospering.  It  had  come  into  operation  in  no  less  tha$ 
one-half  of  the  tithe  compositions  in  Ireland.  By  a  parliamentary 
return  it  appears  that  more  than  one  half  of  the  tithe  composition 
had  become  payable  by  the  landlords  in  the  short  time  since  Lord 
Stanley's  Act  was  passed — that  is,  in  about  four  years.  The  transi- 
tion was  going  on  rapidly,  and  one  landlord  after  another  was 
submitting.  The  new  Act  has  completed  the  transition  with  a  loss 
to  the  parsons  of  one-fourth  of  the  entire. 

"  Our  business  is  to  look  to  the  appropriation  of  that  which 


LETTER  TO  DR  MA  CHALE. 


remains— not  the  miserable  appropriation  which  the  Government 
promised,  and  which  would  operate  only  after  existing  leases  had 
dropped,  but  an  appropriation  immediate  and  universal. 

u  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  most  respectfully,  of  your  Grace  the 
most  faithful  servant,  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  Most  Iiev.  Dr  MacHale,  <fcc." 

"Darrynane  Abbey,  23<Z  October  1838. 
"  My  est bemed  Lord, — I  am  indeed  anxious  to  accept  the  honour 
Intended  me  in  Galway,  but  it  is  not  at  present  in  my  power  to 
name  the  day.    If  my  valued  friends  will  allow  me  to  postpone  the 
actual  nomination  of  the  day,  I  will  then,  with  mingled  pride  and 
pleasure,  accept  the  invitation  for  some  day  about  the  12th,  or  from 
that  to  the  15th  of  November.    The  precise  day  I  will  be  able  to 
appoint  within  a  week,  if  I  am  permitted  to  take  this  liberty.  If 
any  difficulty  occurs,  of  course  I  must,  but  with  the  deepest  regret, 
decline  an  honour  which  I  appreciate  more  highly  than  I  can  de- 
scribe.   We  are  come  to  a  most  important  crisis.    Our  friends  are 
not  powerful  enough  to  serve  us  effectually.    Our  enemies  are  so 
powerful  as  to  be  able  to  stop  all  salutary  legislation  on  our  behalf. 
What  are  we  therefore  to  rely  on  ?  Only  on  our  own  exertions.  We 
conquered  great  difficulties  already,  and  we  will  be  able  to  conquer 
those  that  remain.    If  the  spirit  of  unanimous  exertion  be  once 
roused,  we  cannot  fail.    I  have  the  happiness  to  know  that  the 
North  of  Ireland  will  come  forward  in  its  strength  and  intelligence, 
and  I  do  hope  that  the  other  parts  of  Ireland  will  evince  that  their 
former  patrotic  ardour  is  capable  of  being  reanimated,  and  of  pro- 
ducing the  most  useful  effects.    Ireland,  blessed  by  Heaven,  is  able 
to  work  out  her  own  destinies.    She  will  not  allow  herself  any 
longer  to  be  trampled  on  by  the  fell  demon  of  Orange  tyranny.  That 
bigot  faction  seeks  a  restoration  to  power  which  would  fill  the  land 
with  afflictions,  and  the  people  with  almost  insufferable  oppression. 
The  Tory  party  in  England  is  identified  with  Orangeism  in  Ire- 
land,  and  is  ready  to  indulge  that  hated  and  hateful  faction  in  the 


654 


LETTER  TO  DR  MACHaLE. 


renewal  of  all  the  scenes  of  domination,  peculation,  and  blood,  in 
which  that  foul  faction  so  long  indulged  itself  with  impunity. 

"  We  have,  believe  me,  my  respected  Lord,  but  one  way  to  escape 
the  renewal  of  Orange  tyranny,  and  that  is  to  organise  the  people 
of  Ireland  into  peaceable,  legal,  and  constitutional  combination. 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  the  Precursor  Society  affords  us  the  best 
opporturity  of  forming  that  combination.  If  I  can  get — and  why 
should  I  not  get  ? — two  millions  of  Precursors,  I  will  answer  for 
complete  success. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  dear  Lord,  your  Lordship's  most 
faithful  and  grateful  servant,  Daniel  O'Coxnell. 

"  Right  Rev.  Dr  MacHale." 

"Merrion  Square,  15th  December  1838. 
"  My  ever-respected  Lord, — In  the  affair  of  the  unfortunate 
Captain  Gleeson,  I  must,  in  parliamentary  slang,  report  progress, 
and  ask  leave  to  write  again.  There  is,  however,  no  pleasantry  in 
my  mind  on  the  subject.  The  facts  have  occurred  in  this  order: — 
The  day  after  I  arrived  in  town  I  had  communicated  to  the  Lord- 
Lieutenant  that  my  conviction  was  that  he  (Captain  Gleeson)  was 
treated  with  great  injustice.  In  consequence,  the  documents  in 
the  matter  were  handed  over  to  Mr  Drummond  to  be  prepared  to 
meet  me  and  to  justify  the  conduct  of  Government.  I  accordingly 
waited  on  that  gentleman,  and  found  that,  though  he  had  the  docu- 
ments in  his  possession — they  were  lying  on  his  desk — he  had  not 
read  them.  I,  however,  availed  myself  of  the  opportunity  to  give 
him  a  distinct  view  of  the  utter  falsity  of  the  principal  ground  of 
dismissal — that  which  alleged  a  false  charge  of  drunkenness  against 
Mr  St  Clair  O'Malley.  I  called,  in  the  strongest  terms,  for  an  in- 
vestigation and  trial  of  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  that  allegation.  I 
mentioned  that  Captain  Gleeson  stated  that  he  had  more  than  ten 
witnesses  to  support  his  assertion.  I  believe  I  made  some  impres- 
sion. I  certainly  did  all  I  could  to  make  it.  I  was  promised  a 
speedy  communication.  A  great  deal  was  said  of  Lord  Morpeth's 
being  the  patron  of  Mr  Gleeson,  and  of  his  being  satisfied  with  the 


THE  FOUR   WA  NTS  OF  IRELAND. 


decision  ;  but  all  this  is  trash.  I  have  since  had  no  further  com- 
municatiou  from  Mr  Drummond,  but  immediately  on  receipt  of  your 
letter  I  wrote  to  him  again,  pressing  the  case  for  investigation  on 
trial.  I  went  again  pretty  fully  into  my  views  of  it,  and  I  deemed 
it  right  to  send  him  privately,  and  under  another  cover,  your  lettei 
to  me  in  order  to  show  him  how  deep  an  interest  was  taken  in  the 
injustice  done  to  poor  Gleeson.  I  have  had  as  yet  no  answer,  nor 
can  I  pros  for  one  before  Wednesday  next,  on  which  day  I  will  see 
Lord  Morpeth;  and  I  have  a  right  to  a  reply,  which  I  will  of  course 
insist  upon.  I  never  felt  a  deeper  interest  for  any  man  than  I  do 
for  him,  independent  of  my  most  unaffected  anxiety  to  satisfy  your 
Grace  on  the  subject.  There  is  a  strong  rumour,  or  at  least  a  sus- 
picion, that  the  Whigs  are  to  get  Tory  accession, — perhaps  that  of 
the  Duke  of  Wellington.  At  all  events,  Lord  Fingal,  who  is  in 
attendance  on  the  Queen,  writes  that  Lord  Melbourne  is  perfectly 
satisfied  that  no  change  of  Administration  will  take  place  during  the 
ensuing  session.  We  shall  see.  But,  in  any  event,  Ireland  has  no 
resource  save  in  self-exertion.  Three  of  the  provinces  are  showing 
their  conviction  of  the  truth.    Ulster,  I  think,  is  foremost. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  most  respectfully,  of  your  Grace  the 
most  faithful,  humble  servant,  Daniel  O'Co^nell. 

"  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale,  <fcc." 

In  a  letter  written  from  Darrynane  about  this  period 
O'Coimell  said,  "  Ireland  wants  four  things — corporate 
reform,  an  extension  of  franchise,  a  due  proportion  of 
representation,  and  freedom  from  the  burden  of  supporting 
the  Protestant  Church."  He  further  declared  that,  if  the* 
wrongs  were  not  redressed,  he  would  devote  the  residue  ol 
his  life  to  obtain  a  repeal  of  the  Union. 

Lord  Norbury  was  murdered  on  the  19th  of  January 
1839.    He  was  fairly  popular,  had  no  known  enemy,  and 


556 


SERPENTS,   BUT  INNOCUOUS. 


the  murderer  was  never  discovered.  If  the  crime  had 
taken  place  in  England,  it  would  have  been  a  nine  days' 
wonder,  and  nothing  more  ;  as  it  happened  in  Ireland, 
it  created  a  sensation,  and  Government  tried  to  find  out  a 
cause.  ~No  other  cause  "being  apparent  or  known,  it  was 
at  once  credited  to  0" Council's  agitation.  It  did  not  in  the 
least  matter  that  there  was  no  connection  whatever  between 
the  alleged  cause  and  the  supposed  effect. 

The  English  u  Tory"  members  had  at  last  found  a  grave 
accusation  against  Irishmen,  which  they  made  to  react 
upon  the  Government  in  opposition. 

O'Connell  was  justly  indignant.     Mr  Shaw,  the  Recorder 

of  Dublin,  anxious  to  exalt  himself  at  the  expense  of  his  own 

nation,  moved  for  a  return  of  the  outrages  committed  in 

Ireland  during  the  last  four  years.    O'Connell  answered 

him  in  no  measured  language. 

"  Speeches  have  been  made  by  four  gentlemen,  natives  of  Ireland^ 
who,  it  would  appear,  come  here  for  the  sole  purpose  of  vilifying 
their  native  land,  and  endeavouring  to  prove  that  it  is  the  worst 
and  most  criminal  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  (Loud  cries  of 
'  Oh  ! '  from  the  Tories.)  Yes;  you  came  here  to  calumniate  the 
country  that  gave  you  birth.  It  is  said  that  there  are  some  soils 
which  produce  enormous  and  crawling  creatures — things  odious  and 
disgusting.  (Loud  cheers  from  the  Tories.)  Yes  ;  you  who  cheer- 
there  you  are — can  you  deny  it?  Are  you  not  calumniators? 
(Cries  of  '  Oh  ! '  and  hisses.)  Oh  !  you  hiss,  but  you  cannot  sting. 
I  rejoice  in  my  native  land ;  I  rejoice  that  I  belong  to  it ;  your 
calumnies  cannot  diminish  my  regard  for  it  ;  your  malevolence 
cannot  blacken  it  in  my  esteem  ;  and  although  your  vices  and 
crimes  have  driven  its  people  to  outrage  and  murder — (order) — yes  t 


LORD  ROD  EX 


657 


I  say  your  vices  and  crimes.  (Chair,  chair.)  Well,  then,  the 
crimes  of  men  like  you  have  produced  these  results.  .  .  .  Fourteen 
murders  have  occurred  in  Ireland  since  the  16th  of  November. 
England  since  that  period  has  presented  twenty-five;  yet  no  English 
member  lias  arisen  to  exclaim,  «  What  an  abominable  country  is 
mine!  What  shocking  people  are  the  people  of  England!'  To 
these  you  may  add  two  cases  of  supposed  murder,  thirteen  of  per- 
sonal violence,  and  not  less  than  twenty  incendiary  fires— one  of 
which,  by  the  way,  was  at  Shaw,  in  Berkshire." 

On  the  21st  of  March,  Lord  Roden,  a  violent  Orangeman, 
moved  for  a  select,  committee  to  inquire  into  the  state  of 
Ireland  with  regard  to  the  commission  of  crime.2 

There  was  another  cause  besides  "hunger"  for  Irish 
discontent.  It  was  the  aggressions  and  violence  of  Orange- 
men like  Lord  Roden,  who  first  excited  party  feeling,  coun- 
tenanced, if  they  did  not  sanction,  Orange  meetings;  and 
then  walked  coolly  into  Parliament,  and  asked  for  an  in- 
quiry into  the  cause  of  Irish  discontent. 

Lord  Roden  got  his  committee,  but  he  did  not  get  much 
advantage  thereby.  Mr  Drummond  was  then  Chief-Secre- 
tary in  Ireland,  and  his  evidence  went  to  show  that  Orange 
Lodges  were  the  fruitful  sources  of  evil  and  discord.3 

2  An  English  writer  says,  "  The  poor  peasant,  with  his  emaciated 
features,  hungry  eyes,  and  murderous  bludgeon,  is,  naturally  enough, 
ready  to  try  the  desperate  chance  of  revolt.  Till  he  is  transformed  into 
a  well-fed,  and,  as  a  consequence,  gay  and  happy  being,  there  is  no  hope 
for  Ireland."— Memoir  of  Thomas  Drummond,  vol.  i.  p.  242. 

3  Mr  Drummond  was,  we  believe,  the  first  English  official  in  Ireland 
who  ever  attempted  to  restrain  Orange  justices  of  the  peace  from  giving 
open  offence  to  their  Catholic  fellow-subjects.— Life  of  Drummond,  p.  297. 

2t 


658 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


The  following  letters,  which  passed  between  his  Grace 
the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  and  O'Connell  during  the  year 
1839,  are  of  the  deepest  interest : — ■ 

"  Merrion  Square,  Zd  January  1839. 

"  My  EVER-RESPECTED  LORD, — I  have  read,  and  return  your 
Grace,  the  copy  of  Mr  Vigor's  letter.  I  was  aware  that  the  Liberals 
cf  the  county  of  Carlo w  had  strongly  testified  to  Captain  Gleeson's 
services.  Nay,  Mr  Drummond  admitted  to  me  that  they  had  certi- 
fied, that  he — Captain  Gleeson — had  prevented  much  bloodshed  ; 
as  far  as  Carlow  is  concerned,  his  case  cannot  be  made  stronger.  All 
I  can  do  for  him  is  to  endeavour  to  prevail  on  the.  Government  to 
give  him  some  office  in  substitution  of  that  which  he  has  been  de- 
prived of.  I  told  him  the  only  phm  which  could  assist  me  with 
that  view — namely,  the  procuring  a  memorial  most  numerously  and 
respectably  signed  in  his  favour.  I  do  not  know  that  such  memo- 
rial will  have  the  desired  effect,  but  I  do  know  that  without  it 
nothing  can  be  done. 

"I  could  obtain  an  investigation — that  is,  I  believe  1  could  obtain 
an  investigation — but  that  there  is  one  decisive  fact  to  warrant  the 
dismissal  of  this  unfortunate  gentleman,  which  is  admitted  most 
distinctly  by  himself,  and,  indeed,  cannot  possibly  be  denied  j 
namely,  his  publication  in  the  newspapers  of  the  most  peremptory 
contradiction  of  O'Malley — a  species  of  publication  most  emphati- 
cally prohibited  by  the  printed  rules  of  the  service.  How,  then,  can 
I  talk  of  investigation,  when  I  am  met  by  this  plain  proposition? 
Suppose  every  other  charge  disproved,  here  is  one  of  the  gravest 
admitted,  and  only  palliated  by  showing  the  truth  of  the  matter 
published  ;  but  the  publication  itself,  not  its  truth  or  falsehood,  is 
the  offence.  It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  no  reply.  I  wish  I  could 
prevail  on  your  Grace  to  believe  me  when  I  tell  you  the  real  situa- 
tion of  the  Ministry.  In  the  hope  that  you  will  give  proper  weight 
to  my  testimony,  I  repeat  it.  Some  of  the  Ministry,  including  Lord 
John  liussell,  are  anxious  to  retire  with  honour;  with  the  exception 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


659 


of  Lord  Melbourne  himself,  perhaps  there  is  not  one  tenacious  of 
omce. 

"There  is  lately  another  element.  It  is  the  fearful  state  of  En- 
land,  which  makes  it  impossible  to  change  the  Administration  The 
Tones  could  not,  and  would  not-that  is,  the  leading  and  national 
Tones,  Wellington,  Peel,  &c_would  not  accept  office  at  present 
Even  it  Connaught,  or  all  Ireland,  were  to  abandon  the  Ministry 
neither  the  threat  nor  the  fact  wouid  have  the  least  influence  on  any 
Government  measure.  They  are  sure  of  gaining  three  Tories  for 
every  Irishman  they  may  lose.  There  never  was  anything  more 
hopeless  than  to  attempt  to  bully  them.  /  know  it  from  experience. 
I  have  tried  it,  and  totally  failed.  I  never  will  try  it  again— at  least, 
until  there  is  a  change  in  our  prospects. 

'•I  do  not,  my  respected  Lord,  presume  to  interfere  with  Connaught 
politics.    Connaught  has  been  neglected  and  vilified  by  the  Railway 
Commissioners  ;  you  have  in  your  last  letter  shown  that  it  has  been 
almost  equally  neglected  by  the  Education  Commissioners.    It  was 
the  province  from  which,  in  the  Emancipation  struggle,  we  received 
the  least  and  the  last  assistance ;  and  now  that  the  rest  of  Ireland  is 
engaged,  more  or  less,  in  another  movement,  with  the  exception  of 
Galway,  Connaught  omits  to  join.    This  may  be  all  quite  right,  but 
me  it  afflicts  with  melancholy.    That  it  should  rise  in  an  effort 
for  Captain  Gleeson  would  give  me  great  pleasure ;  because,  al- 
though I  think  a  struggle  with  and  for  Ireland  would  be  more  useful 
as  well  as  more  dignified,  yet  any  political  exertion  is  better  than 
torpor  or  acquiescence.    Ireland  has  never  acted  together  since 
the  close  of  the  Emancipation  fight,  and  she  never  again  will  com- 
bine in  a  simultaneous  exertion  until  the  happy  day  shall,  if  ever  it 
shall  come,  when  we  shall  be  on  the  eve  of  another  and  a  greater 
political  victory.    But  it  is  vain  to  hope  for  combination  from  Ccn- 
na ught  until  your  judgment  goes  with  us  in  our  struggles.    It  is 
not  by  mere  neutrality,  or  even  passive  countenance,  that  we  can  be 
aided  by  your  Grace.    You  do  not  think  with  us,  or  you  would  act 
with  us.    So  far  from  stating  this  as  matter  of  complaint,  I  tender 


660 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


my  respectful  approbation  of  the  line  of  conduct  you  pursue, 
because  I  am  convinced  it  is  the  dictate  of  a  mina  ot  the  highest 
order,  and  of  a  heart  full  of  the  purest  love  of  country  and  of 
religion. 

"  I  trust  your  Grace  will  pardon  me  this  lengthened  trespass.  I 
will  conclude  by  assuring  you  that  I  do  not  deprecate  any  attack, 
however  violent  or  powerful,  on  the  present  Ministry.  I  love  them 
not — I  respect  them  little  indeed — but  I  support  them  to  keep  out 
the  Tories ;  and  if  it  shall  happen,  as  events  portend,  that  a  coali- 
tion Ministry  shall  be  formed,  you  will  probably  have  me  in  direct 
opposition  before  the  end  of  the  ensuing  session. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  veneration  and  respect, 
my  dear  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  most  faithful,  attached,  and 
humble  servant,  DANIEL  O'CONNELL. 

«  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale,  &c." 

"  Merrion  Square,  ith  April  1839. 

"  My  dear  and  ever-respected  Lord, — May  I  congratulate 
your  Grace  that  a  term  has  arrived  to  the  fiction  of  an  ariti-Catholic 
successor  to  the  Catholic  St  Jarlath,  and  that  even  the  name  of 
Archbishop  of  Tuam  is  blotted  from  the  vocabulary  of  heresy. 

"  I  am  trembliugly  alive  to  the  importance  of  the  subject  on 
which  I  sit  down  to  write  to  you — one  effort  more  to  procure  your 
countenance  to  the  junction  of  Connaught  to  the  general  exertions 
of  the  rest  of  Ireland.  Hitherto  that  province  contented  itself 
with  great  and  striking,  but  only  occasional  efforts,  to  aid  the  great' 
cause,  and  strike  down  the  common  enemy  ;  and  it  was  not  until 
after  we  had  sent  G.  M'Donnell  on  a  forev/n  mission  that  we 
obtained  any  substantial  assistance  from  that  province.  There  were 
then,  as  there  are  now,  some  excellent  reasons  for  good  men  to 
differ  ;  but  now  we  want  union  and  the  assistance  of  each  other 
more  than  we  did  then,  when  the  English  bigotry  was  not  near  aa 
much  roused  as  it  is  now. 

"  There  is  at  present  one  ingredient  which  seems  to  operate  against 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MACHALE. 


661 


*  Precursor '  co-operation  from  Cormaught,  and  it  is  this— the  con- 
demnation cf  the  national  education  scheme  by  your  Grace,  which 
would  require  parochial  contributions  for  the  purposes  of  education, 
and,  as  hd  apparent  consequence,  the  prevention  of  any  part  of  the 
funds  of  any  parish  being  diverted  into  the  1  Precursor '  treasury. 
On  this  subject,  however,  1  can  say— 1  Experto  crede  Roberto.'  I 
can  give  your  Grace  the  result  of  thirty  years  and  more  of  experience, 
and  it  is  this — that  once  get  a  parish  into  a  mood  of  contributing  to 
public  purposes,  the  more  such  purposes  are  brought  before  them, 
the  more  liberal  will  be  each  aggregate  contribution.  So  many 
persons  will  not  give  pounds  or  five  shillings,  but  many  more  will 
give  one  shilling.  It  will  and  has  uniformly  become  a  habit  to  con- 
tribute, and  thus  a  Precursor  subscription  would,  according  to  my 
experience,  augment  your  school  contributions. 

"  At  least,  results  of  this  description  have  followed  in  almost  every 
other  instance.  The  fact  is,  the  great  resource  even  for  collecting  the 
revenues  of  the  state  is  to  be  found  in  the  multiplication  of  small  sums. 

"  The  contributors  should  individually  be  solicited  to  give  sums 
smaller  than  each  could  reasonably  afford. 

u  The  peril  of  a  Tory  restoration  is  very  eminent,  and  every  one 
opinion  is,  that  upon  a  new  election  the  Liberal  members  for  Ireland 
would  little  exceed  forty. 

"  The  Tories  in  England  would  be  greatly  augmented.  The  Eng- 
lish people  are  essentially  Tory,  and  nothing  preserves  us  from 
actual  ptrsecution  but  the  numbers  and  the  moral  energy  of  the 
Irish  people.  It  is  with  this  conviction  I  venture  once  again  to 
solicit,  or  at  least  to  suggest,  your  leading  Connaught  into  the  contro- 
versy by  joining  the  organisation  of  our  Precursors. 

"We  may,  and  I  believe  will,  have  a  majority  on  Lord  John's 
motion,  but  he  will  infallibly  break  up  the  Administration  within 
twelve  months.  He  is  tired  and  disgusted  with  office,  and  would 
personally  be  glad  we  were  defeated  on  the  ensuing  debate.  We 
are  arrived  at  portentous  times.  We  are  arrived  at  times  in  which 
persecution  may  again  raise  its  head  ;  and,  at  all  events,  there  would 
appear  to  be  no  safety  save  in  perfect  union  amongst  ourselves. 


662 


LETTERS  FROM  BR  M AC  11  ALE. 


"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  very  respectfully,  of  your  Grace  the 
most  faithful  servant  and  affectionate  friend, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  The  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  &c." 

"Tuasi,  16th  April  1839. 
"  My  dear  Mr  O'Connell, — I  have  been  in  receipt  of  your  last 
esteemed  favour,  and  beg  to  return  you  my  sincere  thanks  for  your 
vety  kind  congratulations.  However,  it  must  be  owned,  though  the 
name  of  Protestant  Archbishop  is  abolished,  together  with  the 
bishoprics  of  the  Establishment,  much,  if  not  ail,  of  that  remains 
which  has  been  the  bitter  source  of  the  misfortunes  of  Ireland.  Not 
only  are  the  temporalities  of  the  Establishment  secured,  but  they 
are  also  so  disposed  of  in  sending  missionaries  and  Scripture-readers 
through  the  country,  as  to  give  much  annoyance  to  the  Catholic 
people.  In  short,  the  spirit  of  religious  ascendency  and  intolerance 
still  prevails,  and  were  it  not  under  some  check  from  the  popular 
influence,  it  would  manifest  itself  in  a  still  more  offensive  manner. 
Nay,  in  the  provisions  made  for  educating  the  people,  the  bigotry 
that  so  long  cursed  Ireland  is  not  at  all  concealed.  It  is  attempted 
to  supersede  the  exercise  of  the  most  ordinary  duties  of  the  pastors, 
and  to  hand  over  the  education  of  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  to  a 
board  composed  of  the  ancient  enemies  of  our  country  and  of  our 
faith,  and  some  Catholics,  a  portion  of  whom  care  but  very  little  for 
the  practical  observances  of  religion  as  connected  with  the  education 
of  Catholic  children.  It  is  this  state  of  things,  as  well  as  the  marked 
insult  and  injustice  with  which  their  province  in  particular  is  treated, 
that  makes  the  people  of  Connaught  so  indifferent  in  joining  the 
Precursors'  Society.  There  can  be  no  hope  of  that  justice  for  which 
the  people  are  struggling.  While  the  ascendency  of  the  Protestant 
Establishment  is  left  in  full  vigour,  without  active  strenuous  exer- 
tions to  abate  all  mischief,  it  is  my  sincere  conviction  that  it  will 
be  difficult  to  concentrate  the  national  spirit,  such  as  it  was  in  the 
Catholic  associations.  The  people  require  progressive  improvement 
in  legislation,  as  well  as  a  fair  administration  of  the  laws.  With- 


LETTERS  FROM  BR  MAC  RALE. 


C63 


out  a  sure  prospect  of  such  improvement,  and,  above  all,  without  a 
hope  that  the  religious  ascendency  which  is  still  felt  will  be  put  an 
end  to. 

"  Without  this  entire  religious  equality  the  foundations  of  justice 
cannot  be  laid.  If  the  people  do  not  obtain  an  enlargement  of 
their  civil  rights,  they  and  their  pastors  should  be  left  the  free 
enjoyment  of  their  religious  rights,  without  an  attempt  to  subject 
them  to  an  unhallowed  combination  of  religious  bigotry  and  politi- 
cal despotism.  It  is  not  really  the  mode  for  any  Administration  to 
secure  the  confidence  and  support  of  a  people  who,  much  as  they 
value  their  civil  rights,  value  their  religion  more.  Still  we  have  all 
done  our  duty  during  this  crisis,  and  raised  our  voice  in  protesting 
against  the  sanguinary  demonstrations  of  the  Tories.  Yet  if  the 
system  of  politics  is  not  changed,  you  may  rely  on  it  the  name  of 
Whigs  or  Radicals  will  have  no  charm,  and  the  people,  tired  of  pro- 
mises not  fulfilled,  will  abandon  them  to  their  fate.  Their  only 
chance  of  a  permanent  continuance  in  power  is  a  firm  determina- 
tion to  do  justice  to  Ireland,  which  is  incompatible  with  its  ecclesi- 
astical establishments  and  the  present  religious  inequality  of  its 
people.  I  hope  the  Ministers  will  take  a  salutary  lesson  from  the 
difficulties  into  which  their  feeble  policy  has  thrown  them,  and  that 
you  will  be  enabled,  if  you  hope  for  the  free,  generous,  and  uncal- 
culating  aid  of  the  nation,  to  enlarge  your  demands  upon  the  Go- 
vernment, and  to  insist  on  those  rights  respecting  religious  equality 
of  which  every  Administration  appears  equally  attentive,  and  which 
the  great  body  of  the  people  are  most  anxious  to  obtain.  I  cannot 
omit  this  opportunity  of  thanking  you  most  sincerely  for  your  zeal 
in  behalf  of  Captain  Gleeson,  which  he  hopes  will  be  successful  in 
doing  him  justice." 

"  October  15,  1839. 

u  My  dear  Mr  OConnell, — I  am  just  returned  from  the  Island 
of  Achil,  where  I  have  been  for  some  time  striving  to  preserve  a 
portion  of  my  flock  from  some  thieves  who  planted  themselves 
there,  and  are  using  every  exertion  to  traffic  by  bribing  and  working 


664  LETTERS  FROM  BR  MAC  HALE. 


on  the  misery  of  the  poor  natives.  The  mission  was  not  cal- 
culated to  make  me  feel  any  gratitude  to  the  Government,  since  I 
found  that  the  coastguards  were  the  active  agents  of  those  impos- 
tors, notwithstanding  that  complaints  were  made  by  some  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  there  of  such  influence.  Nay,  it  appeared  after  a 
long  investigation  held  some  time  ago,  that  their  officer  took  a  most 
offensive  aud  unwarrantable  part  in  their  anti-Catholic  proceedings. 
You  perceive,  then,  how  active  and  untiring  is  the  hostility  of  our 
enemies  to  our  religion,  and  how  their  enormous  wealth  is  still 
made  the  instrument  by  which  the  perversion  of  the  people  is 
bought.  On  the  strongest  religious  grounds,  then,  as  well  as  politi- 
cal, I  am  opposed  to  the  tithes  or  rent  charge,  knowing  weli,  as 
long  as  those  who  are  hostile  to  our  faith  can  command  such  a  fund, 
they  will  strive  to  convert  it  to  the  injury  of  our  religion. 

"  You  need  not,  therefore,  fear  any  abatement  of  the  agitation 
on  that  subject.  It  is  here  deemed  the  sum  of  every  other  griev- 
ance without  the  removal  of  which  our  agitation  would  be  of  little 
avail.  It  is,  therefore,  put  forth  as  the  most  prominent  of  tho 
evils  of  Ireland.  I  am  delighted  that  the  gentry — the  men  who  in 
general  hitherto  stood  aloof  from  the  contest — have  at  length  em- 
barked in  it,  resolved  to  get  rid  of  an  impost  that  involves  so  much 
their  own  reputation  as  well  as  the  interests  of  their  own  families. 
This  spirit  is  progressing  fast,  and  has  already  spread  through  all  parts 
of  the  province,  everywhere  reprobating  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of 
the  tithes.  On  other  minor  points,  as  well  as  the  means  of  obtain- 
ing justice,  there  is  some  discrepancy  of  opinion.  This  is  owing  to 
the  deep-seated  conviction  that  the  present  Ministry  have  not  done 
what  they  were  capable  of  doing  for  the  country.  The  people  think 
it  a  matter  of  little  importance  what  may  be  the  profession  of  their 
rulers,  if  they  find  those  professions  realised  in  measures  to  which 
the  people  are  opposed,  such  as  the  Tithe  Act  and  poor-laws.  I 
fear  the  Whigs  calculate  on  a  full  amnesty  for  all  their  bad  acts, 
because  the  people  hate  the  Tories.  The  restoration  of  clerical 
magistrates,  <fcc,  is  not  calculated  to  recall  any  of  the  confidence 
\rhich  they  have  forfeited.    They  are  expecting  100  much.  They  hope 


LETTER   TO  DR  MA  CHALK 


665 


for  the  unqualified  support  of  the  people  without  any  pledge  on  their 
specific  measures,  for  which  the  people  are  contending.  Even  now, 
at  the  last  hour,  were  they  to  come  forward,  and  throw  themseJves 
generously  on  the  people,  and  promise  such  an  extension  of  the 
franchise,  an  increase  of  representatives,  but,  above  all,  such  an  im- 
mediate and  universal  appropriation  of  the  tithes  as  you  mentioned 
in  your  letter,  always  respecting  the  rights  of  the  present  incum- 
bents, I  am  sure  that  all  Ireland  would  so  rally  round  them  as  to 
bring  dismay  into  the  ranks  of  the  Tories.  Without  such  declara- 
tion on  their  part,  it  is  my  belief  the  agitation  will  not  be  so 
general  or  successful.  Any  influence  we  command  with  the  people 
is  founded  on  the  credit  they  give  us  for  seeing  a  fair  prospect  of 
improvement  in  their  condition.  We  cannot  hold  out  this  prospect 
to  them  unless  it  is  given  by  our  rulers  or  extracted  from  their 
fears.  I  wish  you  could  induce  them  to  give  us  more  confidence. 
If  they  do  not,  then  the  people,  relying  no  longer  on  their  vague 
promises,  will  rely  on  their  own  exertions;  the  present  difference  of 
opinion  will  vanish,  and  you  will  find  no  difficulty  in  concentrating 
them  against  either  Wliigs  or  Tories.  Whether  they  accede  to  your 
request  or  not,  you  may  calculate  on  general  co-operation." 

"  Merrion  Square,  23d  December  1839. 
"  My  dear  and  most  esteemed  Lord, — If  the  period  we  have 
arrived  at  were  not  one  of  singular  interest,  I  should  not  obtrude 
on  your  Grace's  time  or  attention.  I,  however,  believe  that  a  crisis 
of  deeper  interest  has  not  arisen  for  many  years,  nor  one  which,  in 
my  humble  judgment,  could  be  more  capable  of  being  converted 
into  purposes  of  such  great  utility  for  Ireland.  It  is  this  convic- 
tion which  emboldens  me  to  ask  your  Grace  for  advice  and  for 
co-operation. 

14  The  time  is  come  when  all  Catholic  Ireland  should  rally— 
should  form  a  strong  and  universal  combination. 

"  The  Tories  are  united  ;  you  perceive  that  they  are  daily  becom- 
ing less  careful  to  conceal  their  intentions.  They  avow  their  bitter 
hostility  to  the  religion  and  to  the  people  of  Ireland. 


666 


LETTER  TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


"  The  furious  and  most  sincere  of  the  British  Tories  avow  theif 
intention  to  re-enact  the  Penal  Code,  whilst  the  more  wily  declare 
their  designs  not  to  go  farther  than  to  render  the  Emancipation  Act 
a  mere  dead  letter — to  leave  it  on  the  statute  book,  but  to  render 
it  totally  inoperative  in  practice.  I  care  little  for  its  nut  being 
repealed  in  point  of  law,  if  it  be  repealed  in  fact  and  in  operation. 
The  mainspring  of  Tory  hostility  to  Ireland  is  hatred  of  the 
Catholic  religion.  This  is  not  to  be  endured.  We  cannot  suffer 
ourselves  to  be  trampled  under  the  hoofs  of  the  brutal  Orangemen 
of  either  countries.  We  want  protection  for  the  Catholics  against 
all  parties,  Ministerial  as  well  as  Tories.  My  object  would  be  once 
again  to  organise  all  Catholic  Ireland  in  an  effort  of  resistance  to  all 
our  enemies. 

"  It  is  proposed  by  some  Catholics  of  the  very  moderate  party  to 
make  the  basis  of  our  new  exertions  a  declaration  that  the  Catholics 
are  now  too  numerous,  possess  too  much  property  and  intelligence, 
and  are  too  brave  to  submit  to  any  inferiority  in  their  native  land  \ 
and,  of  course,  that  at  the  peril  of  life  and  fortune  they  are  ready 
to  resist  by  all  means  within  the  law  and  constitution  all  and  every 
oppression.  These  general  principles  will  include  all  details,  and, 
of  course,  involve  the  application  of  the  tithe  rent-charge  to  public 
purposes.  I  know  the  education  question  creates  a  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  general  co-operation  between  the  Catholics.  But  for  that  I 
should  expect  the  signatures  of  all  the  Catholics,  prelates,  priests, 
and  people,  to  an  exceedingly  strong  declaration  of  determined 
resistance  to  the  threatened  oppression. 

"Would  to  God  I  could  interfere  to  have  your  Grace  and  Dr 
Murray  understand  each  other — I  mean,  agree  together  on  the  proper 
securities  against  anti-Catholicism  in  the  plan  of  general  education. 
This  wish  is,  I  fear,  an  idle  one,  but  if  your  Grace  were  in  Dublin 
I  do  think  something  might  be  done  to  satisfy  your  just  apprehen- 
sions. The  scheme  of  giving  Government  dominion  over  Catholic 
education  is  failing  on  the  Continent,  as  the  Catholic  people  grow 
alarmed  at  its  tendency." 


Cljitpftr  JifttentJ. 

AGITATION  FOR  REPEAL. 

1839-1843. 

THE  REPEAL  MOVEMENT  PROJECTED — CORRESPONDENCE,  EXPLAINING  IDEAS  AHB 
PLANS,  WITH  DR  MACHALE — REPEAL  ASSOCIATION  FORMED — DISCOURAGING 
8TART — REPEAL  MEETINGS  IN  THE  SOUTH  AND  NORTH — GENERAL  ELECTION, 
O'CONNELL  UNSEATED — ELECTED  LORD  MAYOR  OF  DUBLIN — ATTACKED  BY 
SHREWSBURY — THE  REPEAL  YEAR,  par  excellence — THE  ASSOCIATION,  TERMS 
OF  MEMBERSHIP  AND  CARD— PEEL  AND  REPEAL — MONSTER  MEETINGS  AT 
■N1CIS  AND  MULLAGHMAST—  EUROPEAN  FAME — O'COMNELL  AXD  THE  SOCLBT1 
Of  FBJXNDS — L3?X££§  TO  DR  MAC  HALS. 


N  Christmas  Eve  1839,  O'Con- 
nell  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Tuara,  of  which 
but  a  fragment  remains ;  yet 
that  fragment  is  all-important— 
is  in  itself  almost  an  epitome  of 


the  life  of  this  illustrious  Irishman. 


now 


drawing  to  its  close.  In  this  fragment 
we  find  the  following  words  : — 


11  We  have  ourselves  to  fight  the  battle  of  Ireland 
and  Catholicity  against  the  Orange  and  Tory  faction. 
I  am  tremblingly  alive  to  the  part  you  will  take.  Your 
co-operation  would,  in  my  mind,  be  quite  decisive  of 
success.  Of  course,  I  will  not  take,  or  allow  to  be 
taken,  any  step  inconsistent  with  law;  nor  would  I  ask 
that  your  Grace  should  commit  3-011  rself  one  inch 
beyond  your  own  inclination  ;  but  I  do  want  your 


670      THE  REPEAL  MOVEMENT  PROJECTED. 


countenance — your  something  more  than  mere  acquiescence — the 
larger  that  more  is  the  better.  Indeed,  I  do  believe  the  fate  of 
Catholic  Ireland  is  now  in  your  hands.  If  we  had  you  going  with 
us  in  the  strength  of  your  judgment,  there  would  arise  a  combina- 
tion more  powerful  than  the  old  Catholic  Association." 

O'ConDell  began  life  witli  a  denunciation  of  the  Union; 
he  ended  it  with  a  cry  for  Repeal.  He  could  not  know, 
indeed,  that  he  had  but  a  few  years  to  live,  that  his  span  of 
life  was  nearly  over ;  but  he  must  have  felt  it.  He  was  a 
hale  old  man  certainly,  but  he  was  to  die.  He  had  one  of 
those  fine  old-fashioned  constitutions  which  a.r'.j  extinct 
like  the  dodo  ;  but  the  best  constitution  in  the  world  will 
not  last  for  ever,  because  it  is  only  created  for  time. 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  man  that  he  should  have  set 
to  work  at  the  Repeal  movement  when  he  was  near  his 
threescore  years  of  life,  and  at  the  end  of  forty  years  of 
such  incessant  work  as  few  men  had  ever  gone  through. 

On  the  8th  of  April  1840,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Dr 
MacHale  to  explain  his  plans,  and  telling  him  all  his  hopes 
and  fears. 

Private. 

"  London,  8th  April  1840. 
"  My  ever-venerated  and  dear  Loud, — Whenever  I  have 
formed  the  intention  of  making  a  great  popular  movement,  or  a 
movement  which  I  hoped  to  be  great,  I  have  in  latter  times  taken 
the  liberty  of  announcing  my  intentions  to  your  Grace  in  the  strong 
wish  to  obtain  the  aid  of  your  giant  mind  and  national  influence. 
In  this  I  have  not  been  very  successful.  I  got  from  you  much 
excellent  and  very  wise  advice  ;  but  active  co-operation  you  thought 
it  fit  not  to  give  me.    I  bow  with  submissive  respect  to  the  judg- 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLANS. 


67: 


ment  which  induced  you  to  decline — I  would  not,  and  I  could  not, 
say  to  refuse  me— that  co-operation.  I  have  neither  the  right  nor 
the  inclination  to  complain  of  yonr  decision.  If  you  were  not  as 
free  as  air  to  act  or  not  to  act,  I  would  not  be  guilty  of  the  great 
presumption  of  addressing  your  Grace  on  political  subjects  at  all,  or 
in  any  contingency. 

w  With  these  sentiments,  embodied  as  they  are  with  the  rao5t 
profound  respect,  I  now  lay  before  your  Grace  my  present  plan. 
It  is  this  : — 

M  To  organise  1  A  Justice  or  Repeal '  Association.  The  justice  I 
require  branches  itself  into  four  different  heads  of  grievance. 

M  1st,  The  payment  and  support  by  the  State  in  Ireland  of  the 
Church  of  the  minority  of  the  Irish  people.  This  is  the  first,  the 
greatest  of  our  grievances. 

"  2d,  The  omission  to  give  the  Irish  /?///  corporate  reform. 

u  3d,  The  omission  to  give  the  Irish  people  the  same  political 
franchises  which  the  people  of  England  enjoy. 

"  4  th,  The  omission  to  give  the  people  of  Ireland  an  adequate 
share  of  parliamentary  representation. 

"  The  association  I  propose  will  organise.  I  hope,  the  Irish  people 
to  insist  on  the  redress — the  full  redress — of  these  grievances  from 
the  Imperial  Parliament ;  and  if  not  speedily  and  fully  granted  by 
that  Parliament,  then  from  a  restored  domestic  Legislature. 

"  I  was  to  have  a  provincial  meeting  in  Connaught,  to  oppose 
Stanley's  Bill,  and  to  promote  the  association  I  have  above  ^ketehed. 
But  I  will  not  invade  your  province  without  your  previous  sanction, 
or  at  least  your  previous  assent.  I  hope  to  find  a  letter  from  you 
uefore  me  on  Monday  next  at  Merrion  Square. 

••  Yoa  were  in  your  former  letters  pleased  to  labour  with  me  to 
u<e  my  influence  with  the  present  Ministry  to  adopt  a  more  liberal 
course  of  legislation  in  Ireland,  or  I  should  say  for  Ireland;  and  you 
conveyed  the  idea  to  my  mind  that  I  ought  to  obtain  from  the 
Government  that  adoption  by  menacing  to  desert  them  at  their  need, 
and  to  allow  the  Tories  to  put  them  cut.  It  was  in  vain  that  I 
assured  your  Grace  that  the  leading  men  of  the  present  Ministry, 


672 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLANS. 


and  especially  Lord  John  Russell,  desire,  anxiously  desire,  an  hon« 
onrable  opportunity  of  giving  up  power.  They  do  not  cling  to  it, 
believe  me — I  do  beg  of  you  to  believe  me,  for  I  know  the  fact — 
they  do  not  cling  to  office  with  any  tenacity  that  would  make  such 
a  menace  of  the  slightest  avail.  Now  do,  my  dear  and  most  revered 
Lord,  believe  me,  that  this  is  the  simple  fact.  Nay,  they  menace  me 
to  resign  unless  I  satisfy  them  in  my  conduct.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, is  it  too  much  for  me  to  ask  your  Grace  to  believe  me 
that  1  am  utterly  unable  to  influence  the  Government?  I  implore 
of  you  to  have  this  ingredient  in  your  mind  in  coining  to  any  deter- 
mination, that  I  cannot  possibly  persuade  the  Ministry  to  adopt  or 
reject  any  particular  measure,  or  to  take  any  particular  course.  It 
is  true  that  I  Lave  already  written  to  this  effect  to  your  Grace,  but 
alas  !  you  seemed  not  to  credit  my  assertion  ;  and  now  I  respect- 
fully solicit  an  answer,  if  you  think  fit  to  write  to  me  at  all.  Do 
you  believe  me  when  I  say  I  am  utterly  powerless  in  respect  to 
influencing,  persuading,  or  in  any  way  affecting  the  acts  of  the 
Ministry  % 

"  My  own  private  and  confidential  opinion  is,  that  the  Tories 
will  soon,  very  soon,  be  in  office.  One  reason  why  I  wish  to 
organise  Ireland  is  this  conviction. 

"  Give  me  any,  even  the  slightest,  hint  that  you  see  any  incon- 
venience in  my  going  into  Connaught,  and  I  will  not  approach  its 
borders.  One  unhappy  event,  on  the  other  hand,  has  prevented  the 
Irish  people  from  having  the  'power  of  the  West'  with  them.  I 
blame  nobody.  If  anybody  be  to  blame,  I  am  probably  the  man. 
I  certainly  know  no  person  in  that  province  who  ought  to  share  any 
euch  blame.  Nor  do  I,  nor  can  I  possibly,  either  directly  or  in- 
directly, allude  to  any  other  circumstance,  or  to  what  may  have 
happened  in  the  unquestionably  conscientious  discharge  of  any 
duty. 

"  I  do,  in  conclusion,  implore  your  Grace  to  forgive  me  for  thia 
intrusion.  It  is  indeed  dictated  by  the  most  sincere  respect,  the 
most  unqualified  veneration,  and  the  not  culpable  anxiety  to  stand 
well  in  your  judgment  as  a  public  man  and  as  a  Christian. 


LETTER  FROM  DR  MACE  ALE. 


673 


"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  venerated  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the 
most  faithful  humble  servant, 

(l  Daniel  O'Coxnell, 
■  The  Most  Rev.  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam.*' 

"April  11,  1840. 

^  "  My  dear  Mb  O'Coxxell, — I  have  read  with  deep  interest  the 
kind  letter  with  which  you  have  honoured  me.  I  am  only  surprised 
that  you  could  for  a  moment  imagine  that  I  would  be  indifferent  to 
any  communication  from  such  a  source.  I  prize  it  the  more  on 
account  of  your  continued  personal  friendship,  no  withstanding  my 
apparent,  for  it  is  only  apparent,  apathy  in  the  political  transactions 
of  the  country.  If  you  are  not  in  sufficient  possession  already  of 
the  cause,  I  shall  more  fully  explain  it  in  another  letter.  We  have 
arrived  at  an  awful  crisis.  Never  since  you  embarked  in  the  cause 
of  your  country  and  religion  were  your  exertions  more  required  in 
▼indicating  the  freedom  of  both.  This  last  measure  is  the  deadliest 
stroke  yet  aimed  at  our  liberty.  Whilst  the  franchise  remained 
there  was  yet  hope  for  a  peaceful  assertion  of  our  rights ;  take 
that  away  and  the  people  are  left  without  any  arms  in  their 
hands,  and  in  this  defenceless  posture  again  ready  for  any  experi- 
ment of  slavery  or  despotism.  The  protection,  nay  the  extension 
of  the  franchise,  is  a  common  cause,  on  which  there  should  be  no 
controversy.  All  Ireland  should  shout  its  reprobation  of  those 
who  would  thus  attempt  to  take  from  the  honest  man  the  shield 
and  the  sword  of  his  freedom.  Already  have  there  been  meetings 
in  this  part  of  the  country  denouncing  this  infamous  measure,  and 
not  forgetting  those  who  were  absent  from  the  division.  It  is 
worthy  of  the  hatred  of  Stanley  for  Ireland.  I  shall  cheerfully  give 
you  all  the  assistance  in  my  power;  and  when  you  come  to  Con- 
naught  to  hold  your  meeting,  how  delighted  shall  I  be  if  you  honour 
again  with  your  presence  my  humble  mansion. 

u  You  cannot  'invade'  any  part  of  Ireland.  For  you,  at  least, 
the  boundaries  of  dioceses  and  provinces  should  disappear.  It  is 
only  against  the  heretics  and  the  Sassenachs,  for  I  really  have  no 

2  u 


674 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MACE  ALE, 


relish  for  the  ascendency  pretensions  of  either,  that  I  proclaim  the 
inviolability  of  my  spiritual  territories.  But  as  you  have  never 
been  the  abettor  of  either,  you  have  a  right  to  come  as  the  conqueror 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty  into  all  parts  of  Ireland,  and  to  receive 
the  heartfelt  homage  of  its  grateful  people.  Ireland  must  now  be 
awakened  to  its  duty,  and  fully  impressed  with  the  conviction  that 
it  is  not  on  Whig  nor  Tory  nor  Eadical  it  is  to  rely,  for  they  are  all 
hostile  to  our  holy  religion,  but  on  our  own  concentrated  efforts, 
which  alone  can  save  us  from  the  despotism  to  which  we  shall  other- 
wise be  doomed.  Come,  then,  among  us  as  early  as  you  can  find  it 
convenient,  and  you  will  have  a  cead  mille  fail  the. 

"  Wishing  you  renewed  energies  for  the  increased  struggles  that 
shall  await  you,  I  have  the  honour,  (fee, 

"  f  MacHalk" 

On  the  16th  of  July  O'Connell  wrote  again,  and  more 
fully,  on  the  subject  so  near  his  heart. 

Private, 

"  Merrton  Square,  16t7i  July  1840. 
"MY  DEAR  AND  VENERATED  Lord, — You  have  probably  been 
witnessing,  at  least  occasionally,  in  the  newspapers,  my  progress.  If 
so,  you  will  have  seen  that  I  have  devoted  myself  to  the  restoration 
of  the  Irish  Parliament — a  matter  of  difficulty,  but  an  impossibility 
only  to  those  who  will  not  take  the  proper  means  to  overcome  the 
difficulty. 

"  I  have  placed,  as  the  master  grievance  to  be  redressed  by  the 
Ilepeal  of  the  Union,  the  payment  by  the  nation  of  the  Church  of 
the  minority. 

"I  am  convinced  that  there  is  no  mode  of  attaining  this  object 
but  through  the  Repeal  agitation. 

"  Of  course  your  Grace  will  not  mistake  me  so  far  as  to  suppose 
that  I  obtrude  these  opinions  as  presuming  to  call  for  your  assent. 
I  simply  state  them  to  be  understood  as  to  the  principles  on  which 
I  act,  being  (as  I  am)  convinced  that,  if  there  be  not  a  combined 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE 


675 


effort  made  by  the  Irish  people,  Stanley's  bill  will  be  carried  into 
fcw  in  the  next  session.  The  effect  will  be  to  repeal  in  substance 
the  Reform  and  tne  Emancipation  Acts. 

*  I  propose  to  contribute  to  the  development  of  the  public  senti- 
ment by  nttending  provincial  meetings  during  the  vacation  Of 
*nrse  I  will  net  invade  Connaught  without  the  assent  of  your 
Grace  and,  indeed,  I  should  say  without  your  co-operation.  I  pro- 
mise Tuam  as  the  place— the  time  I  would  leave  to  your  Grace,  if 
yuu  shall  be  so  kind  as  to  assist  me  ;  and  you  must  perceive  that  I 
am  incapable  of  fixing  on  Tuam  without  your  approbation.  My 
object  would  be  to  forward  the  Repeal,  if  that  were  practicable,  but, 
if  not,  to  confine  the  object  to  these  four— 

"  1st,  Petitions  for  the  extinction  or  public  appropriation  of  the 
tithe  rent-charge. 

14  2d,  Petitions  for  the  extension  of  the  elective  franchise  in 
Ireland. 

"  3d,  Petitions  against  any  bill  on  the  principle  of  Lord  Stanley's 
bill.  11 
"  4th,  Petitions  for  full  corporate  reform. 

"  Those  who  choose  to  assist  in  the  Repeal,  and  to  declare  them- 
selves  Repealers,  would  have  an  opportunity  of  doing  so.  But  I 
confess  I  should  desire  a  Repeal  resolution  of  the  provincial  meet- 
ing, if  attainable. 

"An  organisation  by  parishes  for  the  purposes  of  carrying  tho 
above  objects  into  effect  would  be  very  desirable, 
"In  short,  if  we  had  the  Repeal — 

"  Religion  would  be  free. 
u  Education  would  be  free. 
"  The  press  would  be  free. 
"  No  sectarian  control  over  Catholics ;  no  Catholic  control  over 
sectarians — that  is,  no  species  of  political  ascendency. 

"  The  law  would,  of  course,  sanction  in  the  fullest  measure  tho 
spiritual  authority  of  the  Episcopal  order  over  religious  discipline 
amongst  Catholics,  including  Catholic  education. 

"  These  are  plans  of  great  importance.    I  think  I  could,  with 


676 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MAC II ALE. 


support  from  a  chosen  few,  comparatively  speaking,  carry  them 
kite  full  effect. 

"I  go  specially  to  Mayo,  I  believe — certainly  to  Gal  way.  I  have 
the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  of  your  Grace  the  obedient 
servant,  DANIEL  O'CONNELL. 

"  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

f  Castlebar,  25th  July  1840. 

"  My  dear  and  venerated  Lord, — I  received  your  admirable 
letter  with  the  greatest  pleasure  and  gratitude;  all  is  safe  now;  we 
will  work  the  great  question  of  questions  until  it  becomes  too  big 
for  English  opposition.  I  have  the  strongest  confidence  in  complete 
and  not  remote  success.  What  I  propose  relative  to  the  provincial 
meeting  is  founded  on  your  letter,  and  it  is  this — that  it  should  be 
held  at  Tuam  on  the  second  Monday  in  August,  which  will  be  the 
10th.  The  Galway  assizes  will  be  quite  over,  and  the  return  from 
the  assizes  will  enable  many  without  inconvenience  to  come  to 
Tuam.  I  will  prepare  a  requisition  here,  and  get  it  signed  for  that 
day.  I  will  send  a  copy  to  your  Grace,  and  if  it  meets  your  ap- 
proval, we  will  put  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel  for  that  day. 

"  It  is  vain  to  expect  any  relief  from  England.  All  parties  there 
concur  in  hatred  to  Ireland  and  Catholicity  ;  and  it  is  also  founded 
in  human  nature  that  they  should,  for  they  have  injured  us  too 
much  ever  to  forgive  us. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  most 
respectful  faithful,  servant, 

"  Daniel  0  Conn  ell* 
44  The  Most  Rev.  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

"  Merrion  Square,  30th  July  1840. 
"  My  very  dear  and  respected  Lord, — We  have  launched  the 
Repeal  cause  well  in  Connaught,  ten  thousand  thousand  thanks 
to  your  Grace.    But  well  begun  will  not  alone  do.    We  must 
follow  it  up  well  for  the  provincial  meeting.    More  depends  on  the 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


677 


■uccess  of  that  meeting  than  I  can  describe.  If  we  make  an  im- 
pression by  the  magnitude  and  respectability  of  that  meeting,  the 
result  will  be  most  favourable  on  the  other  provinces,  and  having 
the  three  provinces  with  us,  we  shall  easily  procure  a  great  portion 
of  Ulster,  perhaps  more  than  may  be  imagined  by  those  who  look 
only  at  the  surface. 

u  That  being  the  reverse  of  the  case  of  your  Grace,  I  look  with 
the  utmost  confidence  to  your  decided  and  energetic  support  at 
the  approaching  provincial  meeting. 

"The  first  tiling — a  most  important  thing  it  is — necessary,  is  to 
have  a  requisition  as  numerously  and  as  respectably  signed  as  pos- 
sible. For  this,  I  must  depend  mainly  on  your  Grace.  It  will,  my 
Lord,  require  activity  and  energy  which  you  (blessed  be  God  !)  pos- 
sess; but  it  will  require  time  which,  amidst  your  great  and  important 
duties,  you  cannot  well  spare,  and  yet,  I  trust  that  this  is  one  of 
those  duties,  or  at  all  events  that  its  tendency  is  to  promote  the 
greatest  and  best  of  them.  I  do,  therefore,  venture  to  solicit  your 
active  co-operation. 

"  You  will  at  once  get  Lord  Ffrench's  signature  and  that  of  his 
son's,  perhaps,  brother's.  Blake,  the  member  for  Galway,  will,  I 
know,  be  guided  by  you.  He  is  at  times  sturdy,  but  he  is  a  truly 
honest  man — honest  to  the  heart's  core,  and  a  faithful  Catholic. 
In  short,  he  will,  if  you  deem  it  right  to  ask  or  advise  him,  give 
his  hearty  co-operation. 

"  The  Ulster  meeting  will  take  place  the  day  after  ours.  I  should 
be  so  proud  to  beat  them  in  everything.  Copies  of  the  requisition 
should  be  sent  round  the  counties  to  get  additional  names,  and  all 
may  be  collected  at  the  close  of  the  first  week  of  the  Assizes  of 
Galway. 

"  Excuse  me  for  being  thus  tediously  particular,  but  I  am  most 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  Repeal  alone  can  keep  secure  the 
religion  and  the  liberties  of  the  Irish  people. 

"The  insilious  machinations  of  the  enemies  of  both  can  be  coun- 
teracted successfully  only  by  an  Irish  legislation. 


678  REPEAL   ASSOCIATION  FOUNDED. 

"  I  have  determined  not  to  go  into  Galway  until  Sunday  after* 
noon. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  my  dear  Lord, 
of  your  Grace  the  most  faithful  and  devoted  servant, 

'*  Daniel  O'Connell. 
"  To  the  Most  Kev.  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

O'Connell  founded  the  Repeal  Association  on  the  15th 
of  April  1840.  The  first  meeting  was  held  at  the  Corn 
Exchange,  and  he  thus  explained  his  reasons  for  select- 
ing this  place  : — 

"At  the  outset  of  the  old  Catholic  Association,  I  inspected  various 
places — amongst  others,  Holme's  Commercial  Mart,  on  Usher's 
Island — with  a  view  to  procure  a  suitable  apartment.  I  learned 
that  if  1  should  select  any  unprotected  site,  it  was  the  purpose  of  the 
anti-Catholic  students  of  Trinity  College  to  muster  in  full  force,  and 
endeavour,  at  least,  to  expel  the  Catholic  associators  by  physical 
violence.  I  accordingly  looked  out  for  a  room  in  such  a  neighbour- 
hood as  might  deter  the  College  lads  from  making  their  proposed 
attempt.  Of  course  they  would,  under  any  circumstances,  have 
been  worsted  ;  but  it  might  have  in  some  measure  injured  our 
cause  had  the  meetings  been  liable  to  disturbance,  and  had  any 
of  them  broken  up  in  a  riot.  The  Corn  Exchange  possessed  the 
advantage  of  being  in  the  close  vicinity  of  at  least  150  coal  porters 
every  day  in  the  week,  who  would  have  thrown  the  College  lads 
into  the  Liffey  in  case  of  any  effort  to  disturb  the  proceedings. 
This  circumstance  was  known  to  the  intending  aggressors,  and  the 
salutary  knowledge  effectually  checked  their  projects  of  intrusion." 

The  commencement  was  not  very  encouraging.  The 
chair  was  taken  by  John  O'Niel  of  Fitzwilliam  Square,  a 
steadfast  patriot;  but  O'Connell  waited  for  nearly  an  hour 
after  the  time  named  for  the  opening  of  the  meeting,  and  yet 


DISCO  URA  GEM  EN  TS  AT  FIRST. 


ero 


there  was  but  a  handful  of  people  iu  the  room.  There  were 
several  reasons  for  this.  O'Connell  had  been  obliged,  for 
many  years  of  his  life,  to  devote  himself  to  stirring  up  the 
Fpirit  of  his  compatriots,  to  exciting  their  hopes,  to  firing 
their  ambition,  to  rousing  them  from  the  torpor  of  despair, 
into  which  they  had  been  thrown  by  reiterated  failures.  He 
bad  roused  them,  and  he  had  shown  them  that  some  mea- 
sure of  justice  could  be  attained  by  perseverance,  by  energy, 
by  reiterated  demands.  It  was  but  natural  that  the  sons 
of  those  men  whom  he  had  so  aroused  should  look  a  little 
beyond  their  father,  should  desire  more,  should  be  more 
eager  to  attain  it :  and  not  having  personal  knowledge  of 
an  unsuccessful  rebellion,  should  be  disposed  to  fight  for 
liberty,  as  apparently  a  quicker  method  of  obtaining  it  than 
by  agitating.  They  had  a  good  deal  of  pluck,  a  good  deal 
of  daring,  a  good  deal  of  hopefulness,  and  a  very  limited 
6upply  of  worldly  wisdom.  They  did  not  care  to  beg  for 
Repeal.  If  O'Connell  had  proposed  fighting  for  it,  they 
would  have  been  ready.  Again,  there  was  a  multitude 
who  were  indifferent,  who  could  not  see  any  immediate 
personal  benefit  to  accrue  from  Repeal  ;  and  again  there 
were  many  who  thought  O'Connell  was  not  in  earnest. 

But  he  was  not  a  man  to  be  daunted  by  difficulties,  and 
he  opened  his  meeting  as  easily  as  if  thousands  had  been 
present.  These  words,  he  said,  shall  be  inscribed  on  my 
tomb,  "  He  died  a  Repealer."  They  have  not  been  inscribed 
there  ;  yet,  for  all  that,  the  Repeal  movement  prospered. 


680         PROSPERITY  NOTWITHSTANDING. 


There  were  several  reasons  for  this.  First,  O'ConnelFs 
name  was  sufficient  to  make  any  Irish  movement  prosper ; 
and  when  it  was  known  or  believed  that  he  was  in  earnest, 
thousands  enrolled  themselves  under  his  banner.  Second, 
England  was  in  a  state  of  chronic  disturbance,  and 
O'Connell  believed  that  England's  difficulty  was  Ireland's 
opportunity.  English  statesmen  were  too  busy  with  their 
own  affairs,  to  do  more  than  open  and  read  the  private  corres- 
pondence of  O'Connell  and  his  friends  as  it  passed  through 
the  post  office.4  Thirdly,  the  Temperance  movement,  which 
had  been  inaugurated  by  Father  Matthew,  was  a  most 
powerful  auxiliary  to  O'Connell's  agitation,  for  the  people 
had  learned  to  assemble  in  thousands,  to  enjoy  themselves 
innocently,  and  to  separate  without  disturbance  and  blood™ 
sued.6 

Sir  Eobert  Peel  came  into  office  at  the  close  of  the  year 
1841.  O'Connell  has  often  been  accused  of  coalescing  with 
the  Whigs.  He  may  have  done  so  ;  but  as  he  took  neither 
place  nor  pension,  his  motives  must  have  been  disinte- 
rested. During  the  years  1840  and  1843,  O'Connell  devoted 
himself  to  promoting  the  Repeal  Association  by  holding 


*  Lord  Brougham  spoke  on  the  state  of  England,  in  Parliament,  "  aa 
being  full  of  discontent  and  afflicted  with  distresses." — Life  of  Lord 
Brougham,  p.  511.     The  Chartist  agitation  was  then  at  its  height. 

5  It  need  scarcely  he  ohserved  that  Father  Matthew  kept  himself 
sacredly  aloof  from  politics  ;  and  was  rather  displeased  than  gratified 
when  O'Connell  insisted  on  joining  one  of  his  processions  in  Cork.— 
Life  of  Father  Matthew,  by  J.  F.  Maguirc,  Eeq.,  MP.,  p.  436. 


RECEPTION  AT  LIMERICK. 


681 


mass  meetings  in  various  parts  of  Ireland.  The  London 
Examiner  had  compared  the  Repeal  movement  to  the  cry 
of  the  Darrynane  beagles.  "  Yes,"  observed  O'Connell, 
"  but  he  made  a  better  hit  than  he  intended,  for  my  beagles 
never  cease  their  cry  until  they  catch  their  game." 

In  the  autumn  of  1840,  O'Connell  held  a  repeal  meet- 
ing at  Cork.  He  was  met  by  thousands  who  tried  to  take 
the  horses  from  his  carriage  and  draw  him  into  the  city  in 
triumph,  but  he  would  not  permit  it.6  The  meeting  was 
held  at  Batty's  Circus,  and  the  utmost  enthusiasm  was  dis- 
played. The  Liberator  next  proceeded  to  Limerick,  where 
it  is  said  that  he  was  met  by  a  multitude  little  short  of 
100,000  persons.  The  ship-carpenters  had  got  up  a  kind 
of  pageant  They  had  a  boat  on  wheels,  in  which  Neptune 
sat  with  his  trident,  attired  in  a  sea-green  costume.  He 
rose  when  O'Connell  approached,  and  made  him  a  speech, 
to  which  O'Connell  replied  with  his  usual  quick  wit,  by 
saying  "he  felt  quite  refreshed  by  receiving  an  aquatic 
compliment  on  the  dusty  high  road."  He  addressed  the 
people  in  George's  Street,  opposite  to  Cruise's  Hotel> 
and  from  thence  he  proceeded  to  the  Treaty  Stone,  where 
{Steele  spoke,  in  his  usual  vehement  style.    In  the  even- 


6  When  they  proceeded  to  undo  the  harness,  O'Connell  cried  out  in 
great  excitement,  "No  !  no  !  no  !  I  never  will  let  men  do  the  business 
of  horses  if  I  (  an  help  it !  Don't  touch  that  harness,  you  vagabonds  !  I 
am  trying  to  elevate  your  position,  and  I  will  not  permit  you  to  degrade 
yourselves  !  " — Personal  Recollections,  vol.  i.  p.  88. 


682 


"A  PAIR  OF  ROGUES.11 


ing  the  whole  party  were  entertained  at  dinner  in  the 

theatre.7 

At  Ennis  there  was  an  assembly  of  fifty  thousand  men. 

As  the  party  returned  to  Dublin,  O'Connell  pointed  out 

the  place  where  Mr  M'Nally,  the  son  of  a  barrister,  had 

been  robbed  of  a  large  sum.    He  had  to  levy  the  amount 

off  the  county  to  indemnify  himself. 

"  1  A  pair  of  greater  rogues  than  father  and  son  never  lived,'  said 
O'Connell ;  and  the  father  was  busily  endeavouring  to  impress  upon 
every  person  he  knew  a  belief  that  his  son  had  been  really  robbed. 
Among  others,  he  accosted  Parsons,  then  M.P.  for  the  King's  County, 
in  the  hall  of  the  Four  Courts.  '  Parsons !  Parsons,  my  dear 
fellow  !'  said  old  Leonard,  'did  you  hear  of  my  son's  robbery?' — 
4  No,'  answered  Parsons,  quietly,  '  I  did  not — whom  did  he  rob?' " 

On  the  14th  of  October  a  repeal  meeting  was  held  at 
Kilkenny,  at  which  it  was  calculated  200,000  persons 

7  "  O'ComieH's  usual  travelling  companions  during  the  busiest  period 
of  the  agitation,  were  Dr  Gray,  proprietor  of  the  Freeman's  Journal  * 
Richard  Barrett,  proprietor  of  the  Pilot;  Robert  Dillon  Browne,  M.P. 
for  Mayo  ;  Mr  Steele,  Mr  Ray  (the  secretary  of  the  Association),  John 
O'Connell,  and  Charles  O'Connell,  of  Ennis.  I  ofte:  formed  one  of  the 
travelling  party  until  1843  ;  but  in  that  year  so  many  meetings  sprang 
up,  which  I  was  deputed  t>  attend  on  the  part  of  the  Association,  that 
I  found  it  nearly  impossible  to  accompany  O'Connell  to  any  of  the 
celebrated  '  monster'  assemblages.  For  instance,  on  the  very  day  of  the 
enormous  Tara  meeting,  at  which  1,200,000  were  assembled,  I  attended 
a  meeting  at  Clontibret,  in  the  county  Monaghan,  where  an  experi- 
enced reporter  computed  that  300,000  persons  were  present.  Such  a 
gathering  would  at  any  other  time  have  excited  a  good  deal  of  public 
notice  ;  hut  it  was  quite  thrown  into  the  shade  by  the  unprecedented 
muster  which  O'Connell  addressed  on  the  same  day  at  Tara." — Persona* 
Recollections,  vol.  i.  p.  80. 


PUBLIC  ENGAGEMENTS. 


683 


were  present,  20,000  of  whom  were  on  horseback.  On  ting 
occasion,  when  speaking  of  the  Penal  Code,  0"Connel] 
said  : — 

"  Your  priesthood  were  hunted  and  put  to  death ;  yet  your 
hierarchy  has  remained  unbroken — a  noble  monument  of  your  faith 
and  your  piety.  The  traveller  who  wanders  over  Eastern  deserts, 
beholds  the  m.jestic  temples  of  Baalbec  or  Palmyra,  which  reartheh 
prond  columns  to  heaven  in  the  midst  of  solitude  and  desolation. 
Such  is  the  Church  of  Ireland.  In  the  midst  of  our  political  deso 
lation,  a  sacred  Palmyra  has  ever  remained  to  us." 

O'Connell's  history  at  this  period  is  but  a  successive 
record  of  attendance  at  public  meetings.  His  engage- 
ments are  thus  summed  up  : — 

M  Mr  O'Connell  stands  pledged  to  the  following  engagements.  To 
attend  the  Repeal  Association  on  the  4th  ;  to  preside  at  an  orphan 
charity  dinner  on  the  5th  ;  to  agitate  for  Repeal  in  Mullingar  on 
the  7th,  in  Cork  on  the  11th,  and  in  Dungarvan  on  the  13th;  to 
Atten.l  a  Reform  meeting  in  Dublin  on  the  15th,  and  in  Belfast  on 
the  18th  ;  on  the  19th  to  attend  a  Repeal  dinner  in  the  same  town; 
on  the  21st  and  22d  a  Reform  meeting  and  dinner  at  Leeds;  on 
the  23d  a  Reform  meeting  at  Leicester;  and  on  the  26th  to  take 
his  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  attired  in  his  grey  frieze  Repeal 
coat." 

At  the  Mullingar  meeting  he  was  met  by  fifty  thousand 
persons,  and  the  Right  Rev.  Dr  Cantwell  and  the  Right 
Rev.  Dr  Higgins,  the  Bishops  of  Meath  and  Ardagh,  took 
prominent  places  in  the  procession. 

There  were  disturbances  at  this  time  in  Limerick,  but 
the  "Head  Pacificator,"  Tom  Steele,  was  sent  down 
with  a  white  flag,  edged  with  green,  to  make  peace. 


684  DEVOTION  TO  THE  LIBERATOR. 


These  words  were  inscribed  on  the  flag,  "  Whoever  commitg 
a  crime  adds  strength  to  the  enemy."  Had  O'Connell 
chosen  to  proclaim  himself  King  or  President  of  Ireland 
at  this  period,  undoubtedly  no  power  could  have  resisted 
him.  The  Irish  were  then  a  sober  nation,  and  they 
were  united  in  their  devotion  to  the  Liberator  as  they  had 
never  been,  and  probably  never  again  will  be,  to  any  of 
their  leaders. 

In  Cork,  O'Connell  was  received  with  shouts  of  "  Hurrah 
for  Eepeal !  " 

In  Parliament  he  opposed  Mr  Stanley's  Bill  to  amend 

the  representation  in  Ireland  with  singular  success, 

"  You  would  now,"  said  he,  "  refuse  to  Ireland  equality  of  fran- 
chises with  England.  What  plea  do  you  allege  for  this  refusal  1 
Why,  the  poverty  of  Ireland.  But  mark  your  inconsistency.  When 
I  arraigned  the  Legislative  Union  as  having  caused  poverty  in  Ire- 
land, how  was  I  met?  Honourable  gentlemen  produced  multitudi- 
nous statements  and  calculations  t<?  demonstrate  that  poverty  was 
not  general  in  Ireland,  that  my  statements  were  exaggerated,  and 
that  the  Union  had  created  great  general  prosperity  in  that  country  ! 
You  then  alleged  the  prosperity  of  Ireland  as  a  reason  why  she 
ehould  not  possess  legislative  independence ;  you  now  allege  her 
poverty  as  a  reason  why  she  should  not  enjoy  the  franchise  !  " 

In  the  early  part  of  this  year  he  visited  Belfast,  and  out- 
witted the  Orangeman  who  had  lain  in  wait  to  kill  him. 
He  had  been  challenged  to  hold  a  discussion  on  Repeal  with 
the  well-known  Presbyterian  minister,  Dr  Cooke.  "  He 
was  a  fool  to  send  the  challenge,"  said  O'Connell,  "  and  I 
would  be  a  fool  to  accept  it."    The  Repealers  of  Belfast, 


O'CONNELL  IN  BELFAST. 


685 


however,  sent  him  an  invitation,  which  he  accepted.  The 
Bight  Rev.  Dr  Blake  was  then  Bishop  of  Dromore,  and 
resident  in  Newiy.  fie  knew  the  virulence  of  the  Orange 
party,  and  wrote  to  warn  O'Connell.  O'Connell  took  the 
warning;  he  ordered  post-horses  all  along  the  road  from 
Dnl din  to  Belfast,  for  Monday  the  18th  of  January,  in  hia 
own  name.  He  got  a  friend  to  order  post-horses  for  Satur- 
day the  10th,  in  the  name  of  C.  A.  Charles,  a  well-known 
ventriloquist  O'Connell  arrived  that  night  safely  in  Bel- 
fast, and  no  doubt  enjoyed  the  joke  thoroughly. 

A  soiree  was  given  by  nearly  five  hundred  ladies  of 
different  religious  opinions,  at  which  the  health  of  O'Con- 
nell was  proposed  by  the  distinguished  Bishop  of  Dromore, 
Dr  Blake.  The  Orangemen,  however,  would  not  allow  the 
.  edings  to  escape  without  molestation,  and  while 
O'Connell  was  speaking,  they  flung  in  a  volley  of  stones, 
smashing  windows,  and  broke  chandeliers,  though  fortu- 
nately only  one  lady  was  injured. 

In  May  1841,  O'Connell  attended  a  meeting  of  Repealers 
in  London,  when  he  was  attacked  on  the  old  charge  of 
using  the  "  Rent  "  for  his  own  purposes.8 


8  Many  of  the  English  Catholics  of  the  upper  class  felt  very  bitterly 
against  O'Connell.  However  they  may  have  condemned  the  Repeal 
agitation,  they  should  not  have  forgotten  that  they  owed  Catholic 
Emancipation  to  O'Connell,  and  to  O'Connell's  persevering  agitation. 
At  this  period  they  knew  very  little  of  the  real  state  of  Ireland,  of  the 
terrible  poverty  of  the  people  consequent  on  high  rents,  bad  crops,  and 
depression  of  trade.    After  all,  the  Repeal  agitation  was  directly  bene- 


686 


0' CON  NELL  UNSEATED. 


A  general  election  occurred  during  this  year,  and  O'Connell 
lost  his  heat  for  Dublin.  The  exertions  of  the  Tory  party, 
who  returned  West  and  Grogan,  were  almost  superhuman. 
Voters  were  taken  almost  from  their  very  death-beds  to 
the  polling.  Neither  money,  nor  time,  nor  labour  was 
spared.9 

The  Tory  party  were  triumphant,  and  did  not  use  their 
success  very  delicately.    "  Steam,"  the\r  cried,  "  has  given 

ficial  to  English  Catholics.  One  of  O'Connell's  great  objects  in  it,  and 
the  one  for  which,  in  point  of  fact,  he  really  worked  most  earnestly,  was 
to  obtain  the  return  of  Liberal  members  to  Parliament.  He  broke 
through  the  iron  ring  of  Tory  and  Orange  exclusiveness  which  had 
fenced  in  Irish  constituencies  from  all  but  their  own  party.  Even 
English  Liberal  Protestants  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  O'Connell 
for  this. 

Mr  O'Neil  Daunt  relates  the  following  anecdote  : — 

"  An  Irish  priest,  who  was  collecting  subscriptions  for  the  erection  of 
a  Catholic  church,  applied  for  this  purpose  to  Lord  

" '  Sir,'  replied  his  Lordship,  '  I  will  never  give  a  penny  towards  any 
purpose  for  the  use  of  the  Irish.' — '  Why  so,  my  Lord  V  demanded  the 
priest.  4  Because,'  replied  the  peer,  '  they  subscribe  £14,000  a-year  to 
that  O'Connell  for  coming  over  here  to  create  riot  and  disturbance.' 

"  4  The  ungrateful  fellow  ! '  exclaimed  O'Connell,  when  the  priest  re- 
peated Lord  '  swords;  '  but  for  me  he  would  not  have  been  eman- 
cipated. And,  moreover,  I  saved  him  ,£30,000  by  insisting  that  the 
souimittee  for  making  the  railroad  through  his  property  should  adhere  to 
their  original  engagement  with  him,  instead  of  procuring  a  new  Act  of 
Parliament  to  enable  them  to  obtain  his  ground  for  .£30,000  less  than 
the  valuation  first  agreed  upon.' " 

9  The  events  of  this  election  are  amongst  the  earliest  recollections  of 
the  present  writer.  A  very  near  relative  was  taken  in  his  carriage, 
though  long  an  invalid,  and  carried  to  and  from  it  by  four  men  to  vote 
for  Grogan.  So  strong  were  his  feelings,  that  if  he  had  died  in  the  effort, 
he  would  have  died  content. 


" WHISPER  IN  TOUR  EAR,  JOHN  BULL?  687 

as  Ireland  inextricably  clutched  within  our  grip."  O'Con- 
nell replied  at  a  public  meeting : 

"  They  threaten  us  with  troops  by  steam.  They  say  that  a  few 
hours  will  land  an  army  here.    Steam  is  a  powerful  foe— but  steam 

is  an  equally  powerful  friend.    Whisper  in  your  ear,  John  Bull  

steam  has  brought  America  within  ten  days'  sail  of  Ireland." 

Neither  of  the  Kembles  could  have  surpassed  the  dra« 
marie  effect  with  which  0' Con  nell  uttered  the  words, 
"  Whisper  in  your  ear,  John  Bull ;  "  and  the  scene  of  wild 
exultation,  of  enthusiastic  cheering,  which  followed  cannot 
be  described. 

On  the  1st  of  November  1841,  O'Connell  was  elected 
Lord  Mayor  of  Dublin.  Ever  since  the  English  nation  had 
apostatised  herself,  and  had  striven  by  fire  and  sword  to 
compel  Ireland  to  follow  her  example,  she  had  forced  Pro- 
tectant governors  on  a  Catholic  people.  O'Connell  was 
indeed  worthy  to  be  the  first  to  take  the  civic  chair  after 
the  Emancipation  Act  had  given  it  to  those  who  held  the 
same  religious  belief  as  the  great  majority  of  freemen.  He 
announced  before  his  election,  that  though  as  an  individual 
he  was  a  Repealer  to  the  death,  yet  as  the  chief  magistrate 
he  would  know  no  politics,  and  favour  no  religion.  And  he 
kept  his  word  ;  yet  so  strong  is  the  force  of  prejudice  that 
thirty  years  passed  over  before  Ireland  was  allowed  a 
Catholic  Lord-Chancellor.1 


1  The  pettiness  which  manifested  itself  in  obliging  O'Connell  to  be 
re-elected  for  Clare  was  also  amusingly  manifested  in  the  legiblutivti 


688 


0' CON  NELL  AS  LORD  MA  FOR. 


Every  one  was  anxious  to  see  how  0' Conn  ell  would 
acquit  himself  on  his  first  day  in  court,  and  the  place  was 
crowded  to  excess.  Curiously  enough,  the  first  case  that 
came  before  him  was  a  Catholic  priest's,  whose  servant  had 
summoned  him  for  arrears  of  wages.  O'Connell  gave 
judgment  against  the  priest. 

A  few  days  after  O'Connell  attended  the  dinner  of  St 
Malachi's  Orphan  Charity ;  with  his  usual  felicity  of 
expression,  he  referred  to  the  splendid  gold  chain  of  the 
corporation  which  he  wore,  saying — 

"  I  am  here,  it  is  true,  but  an  un  canonised  Malaclii ;  I  resemble 
the  old  monarch  of  that  name,  of  whom  the  poet  sings  that 

'  Malachi  wore  a  collar  of  gold  ! 9 
He  won  it,  we  are  told  by  the  same  authority,  i  from  the  proud 
invader' — whereas  I  won  this  from  the  old  rotten  corporation  of 
Dublin." 

O'Connell  was  publicly  attacked  at  this  period  by  Lord 
Shrewsbury,  but  he  replied  in  a  most  spirited  letter.  He 
showed,  what  could  not  have  been  denied,  and  what  should 
not  have  been  forgotten,  how  he  had  sacrificed  himself  for 
Ireland  : — 

"  I  flung  away  the  profession — I  gave  its  emoluments  to  the  winds 
— I  closed  the  vista  of  its  honours  and  dignities — I  embraced  the 
cause  of  my  country — and,  come  weal  or  come  woe,  I  have  made  a 
choice  at  which  I  have  never  repined,  nor  ever  shall  repent.  An 


regulations  for  the  Lord  Mayor.  He  could  not  attend  Mass  in  his 
robes,  for  as  O'Connell  observed,  "  The  Mayor  may  be  a  Catholic,  but 
his  rooes  mast  be  Protestant." 


LETTER  TO  LORD  SHREWSBURY.  689 


event  occurred  which  I  could  not  have  foreseen.  Once  more  hi^h 
professional  promotion  was  placed  within  my  reach.  The  office  of 
Lord  Chief  Baron  of  the  Exchequer  became  vacant.  I  was  offered 
it.  Or,  had  I  prelerred  the  office  of  Master  of  the  Rolls,  the  alter- 
native was  proposed  to  me.  It  was  a  tempting  offer.  Its  value 
was  enhanced  by  the  manner  in  which  it  was  made  ;  and  pre- 
eminently so  by  the  person  through  whom  it  was  made — the  best 
Englishman  that  Ireland  ever  saw — the  Marquis  of  Normanby. 
But  I  dreamed  again  a  day-dream — was  it  a  dream  ? — audi  refused 
the  offer.  And  here  am  I  now  taunted,  even  by  you,  with  mean 
and  sordid  motives.  I  do  not  think  I  am  guilty  of  the  least  vanity 
when  I  assert,  that  no  man  ever  made  greater  sacrifices  to  what  he 
deemed  the  cause  of  his  country  than  I  have  done.  I  care  not  how 
I  may  be  ridiculed  or  maligned.  I  feel  the  proud  consciousness 
that  no  public  man  has  made  greater  or  more  ready  sacrifices.  Still 
there  lingers  behind  one  source  of  vexation  and  sorrow — one  evil, 
perhaps  greater  than  all  the  rest — one  claim,  I  believe,  higher  than 
any  other,  upon  the  gratitude  of  my  countrymen.  It  consists  in  the 
bitter,  the  virulent,  the  mercenary,  and  therefore  the  more  envenomed 
hostility  towards  me  which  my  love  for  Ireland  and  for  liberty  has 
provoked.  What  taunts,  what  reproaches,  what  calumnies  have  I 
not  sustained— what  modes  of  abuse,  what  vituperation,  what 
slander  have  been  exhausted  against  me— what  vials  of  bitterness 
have  been  poured  on  my  head— what  coarseness  of  language  has  not 
been  used,  abused,  and  worn  out  in  assailing  me— what  derogatory 
appellation  has  been  spared— what  treasures  of  malevolence  have 
been  expended— what  follies  have  not  been  imputed— in  fact,  what 
crimes  have  I  not  been  charged  with  ?  I  do  not  believe  that  I  ever 
had  in  private  life  an  enemy.  I  know  that  I  had  and  have  many, 
very  many  warm,  cordial,  affectionate,  attached  friends.  Yet  here  I 
stand,  bsyond  controversy  the  most  and  the  best  abused  man  in  the 
universal'  world  !  And,  to  cap  the  climax  of  calumny,  you  come 
with  a  lath  at  your  side  instead  of  the  sword  of  a  Talbot,  and  you 
throw  Peel's  scurrility  along  with  your  own  into  my  cup  of  bitter- 


690 


THE  REPEAL  ASSOCIATION. 


ness.  All  this  have  I  done  and  suffered  for  Ireland.  And  let  her 
be  grateful  or  ungrateful—solvent  or  insolvent — he  who  insults  me 
for  taking  her  pay,  wants  the  vulgar  elements  of  morality  which 
teach  that  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his  hire  ;  he  wants  the  higher 
sensations  of  the  soul  which  enable  one  to  perceive  that  there  are 
services  which  bear  no  comparison  with  money,  and  can  never  be 
recompensed  by  pecuniary  rewards.  Yes,  I  am — I  say  it  proudly—- 
I  am  the  hired  servant  of  Ireland ;  and  I  glory  in  my  servitude." 

0' Conn  ell  now  published  his  "  Memoir  of  Ireland,"  and 
concluded  the  duties  of  his  mayoralty  by  revising  the 
burgess  roll  of  Dublin.  This  obliged  him  to  examine  and 
determine  the  claims  of  18,000  persons.  Wagers  were  laid 
that  no  human  being  could  perform  the  task  in  the  time 
allotted,  but  O'Connell  accomplished  it,  though  every 
obstacle  was  placed  in  his  way  by  the  opposite  party. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1843,  O'Connell  an- 
nounced that  it  should  be  the  repeal  year,  par  excellence. 
The  Repeal  Association  was  already  formed,  and  consisted 
of  three  classes — members,  associates,  and  volunteers.  The 
associates  paid  in  thirty  shillings,  and  received  a  small 
card  as  a  token  of  membership.  The  members  paid  one 
pound  per  annum.  The  volunteer's  card  was  given  to  any 
one  who  paid  ten  pounds.  The  card  was  designed  by  Mr 
O'Callaghan,  the  author  of  the  "  Green  Book,"  The 
names  of  the  four  great  battles  in  which  the  Irish  defeated 
the  Danes  or  English  were  printed  on  this  card — viz., 
"  Clontarf,  1014 "  Beal-an-atha-buidhe,  1598  ;  "  "Ben- 
burb,  1645  ;"  "Limerick,  1690."    The  card  was  adorned 


THE   VOLUNTEER'S  CARD. 


691 


with  pikes,  banners,  and  columns.  On  the  shaft  of  the 
left  column  was  this  inscription  :  "  Ireland  contains  32,201 
geographical  square  miles.  It  is  larger  than  Portugal  by 
4G49  miles  ;  larger  than  Bavaria  and  Saxony  united  by 
4473  miles  ;  larger  than  Naples  and  Sicily  by  409  miles; 
larger  than  Hanover,  the  Papal  States,  and  Tuscany  by 
1285  miles  ;  larger  than  Denmark,  Hesse  Darmstadt,  and 
the  Electorate  of  Hesse  by  9G09  miles  ;  larger  than  Greece 
and  Switzerland  by  55G5  miles  ;  larger  than  Holland  and 
Belgium  by  13,065  miles;  is  in  population  superior  to 
eighteen,  and  in  extent  of  territory  superior  to  fifteen 
European  states — and  has  not  a  Parliament!"  On  the 
shaft  of  the  right  column  was  this  inscription :  "  Ire- 
land lias  8,750,000  inhabitants;  has  a  yearly  revenue 
of  £5,000,000  ;  exports  yearly  £18,000,000  worth  of  pro- 
duce ;  sends  yearly  (after  paying  Government  expenses) 
to  England  £2,500,000 ;  remits  yearly  to  absentees, 
£;>,000,000  ;  supplied,  during  the  last  great  war  against 
France,  the  general  and  two-thirds  of  the  men  and  officers 
of  the  English  army  and  navy;  has  a  military  population 
of  2,000,000— and  has  not  a  Parliament !  " 

Nothing  could  be  less  interesting  than  a  registration  of 
the  history  of  Repeal  meetings.  Each  had  its  own  local 
interest,  and  its  own  local  influence,  but  as  the  whole 
affair  came  to  a  lame  and  impotent  conclusion  in  conse- 
quence of  O'Comiell's  imprisonment,  the  record  can  be  of 
little  value.     In  May  1843,  the  Government  testified  the 


692  THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  REPEAL. 


alarm  which  had  been  previously  felt.  Sir  Robert  Peel 
was  asked  by  Lord  Jocelyn  whether  the  Government  in- 
tended taking  any  steps  to  suppress  the  Repeal  agitation  ? 
Sir  Robert  emphatically  declared  his  resolution  to  suppress 
it  if  he  could,  but  manifestly  he  had  doubts — O'Connell 
knew  the  law  too  well.  If,  however,  the  law  as  it  stood 
could  not  put  down  O'Connell,  the  law  should  be  amended, 
as  had  been  done  before,  or  at  least  as  had  been  sug- 
gested, by  Mr  Perceval. 

O'Connell  replied  in  one  of  his  most  enthusiastic 
speeches, — a  speech  which  was  printed  as  a  broadside  and 
placarded  from  one  end  of  Ireland  to  the  other. 

"We  are  told,"  said  he,  "  that  some  desperate  measures  are  to  be 
taken  for  the  suppression  of  public  opinion  upon  the  question  of 
Repeal.  I  will  tell  Peel  where  he  may  find  a  suggestion  for  his 
bill.  In  the  American  Congress  for  the  district  of  Columbia,  they 
have  passed  a  law  that  the  House  shall  not  receive  any  petitions 
from,  nor  any  petitions  on  behalf  of,  slaves,  even  though  the  peti- 
tioners be  freemen  !  I  shall  send  for  a  copy  of  that  Act  of  the 
Columbian  legislature,  and  send  it  to  Peel,  that  he  may  take  it  as  his 
model  when  he  is  framing  his  bill  of  coercion  for  the  Irish  people. 
He  shall  go  the  full  length  of  the  Coercion  Bill  if  he  stirs  at  all." 

The  two  most  famous  meetings,  in  point  of  numbers, 
enthusiasm,  and  hopes,  too  soon  to  be  dashed  to  the  ground, 
were  those  held  at  Tara  and  Mullaghmast,  the  one  place 
recalling  those  ancient  glories  of  Erin  so  dear  to  Irish 
hearts ;  the  other  the  scene  of  one  of  the  crudest  outrages 
on  justice  ever  perpetrated  by  England  against  the  people  of 


THE  TAR  A  MEETING. 


693 


the  so-called  sister  country.  The  Tara  meeting  took  place 
on  the  15th  of  August  1843.  The  site  being  only  fifty 
miles  from  Dublin,  was  easily  reached  by  cars,  and  it  was 
calculated  that  1400  vehicles  went  thither  from  Dublin 
alone.  There  was  everything  to  inspire  and  inspirit  the 
multitude.  Bands  played  along  the  way,  hopes  and  hearts 
beat  high;  above  all,  it  was  a  holiday  of  the  Church; 
and  from  early  morning  until  the  canonical  hour  of 
twelve,  masses  were  celebrated  at  a  temporary  altar. 
The  sacred  ceremonies  ended,  a  short  sermon  was 
preached  on  temperance,  and  the  Liberator,  surrounded 
by  thousands  and  thousands  who  looked  to  him  as  their 
father  and  their  friend,  received  a  solemn  benediction. 
Two  bishops,  three  vicar-generals,  and  thirty  priests  were 
on  the  platform  with  O'Connell  and  his  friends.  The 
Times  said  that  a  million  of  people  were  present.  Yet 
it  was  here  that  Ireland's  best  and  noblest  son  forged 
the  spear  which  pierced  his  own  breast;  it  was  here  that 
O'Connell  uttered  the  words  for  which  he  was  afterwards 
prosecuted. 

During  this  year,  £48,421  were  subscribed  for  Repeal. 
From  the  Tuam  meeting  in  March  to  the  Tara  meeting  in 
August,  thirty  monster  assemblies  had  been  held.  O'Con- 
nell was  certain— too  certain  of  success.  He  had  arranged 
nu  admirable  plan,  but  it  was  illegal,  and  he  vainly  en- 
deavoured to  frame  one  which  should  be  legal.  He  pro- 
posed a  "  court  of  three  hundred,"  which,  he  said,  if  once 


694 


EUROPEAN  FAME. 


established,  could  be  easily  converted  into  an  Irish  Parlia- 
ment ;  but  the  "  if"  was  in  the  way. 

The  Mullaghmast  meeting  was  held  in  October,  and  on 
that  occasion  O'Connell  was  crowned  by  Hogan,  the  sculptor, 
in  an  assembly  of  400,000  men.  Government  certainly  had 
reason  to  be  alarmed.  Europe  was  ablaze  with  O'ConnelFs 
name  and  fame.  He  refused  his  autograph  to  the  King  of 
all  the  Itussias,  and  it  was  received  as  a  favour  by  the  King 
of  Bavaria.2  A  Repeal  meeting  was  held  in  Paris ;  at  a 
dinner,  M.  Arago  took  the  chair,  and  Ledru  Rollin 
proposed  a  toast,  which  was  received  with  acclamation — 
"  To  Ireland,  the  oppressed,  and  to  France,  the  enemy  of 
all  oppression." 

3  The  autograph  was  transmitted  through  the  Rev.  W.  O'Meara,  a 
Franciscan  friar,  and  a  great  friend  of  the  Liberator's.  The  correspond- 
ence, which  we  hope  to  publish  in  another  work,  has  been  lent  to  us 
by  M.  Lenihan,  Esq.,  J.P.  He  has  also  lent  us  the  autograph  reply  of 
the  King  of  Bavaria,  who  prided  himself,  with  some  reason,  on  his 
knowledge  of  English.  It  was  forwarded  to  Mr  O'Meara  by  Baron  de 
Cetto. 

"  Sir, — I  have  received  the  letter  of  the  10th  of  Sept.,  with  which  you 
had  the  complaicancy  (sic)  to  send  me  an  autograph  of  Mr  D.  O'Connell. 

"  These  lines,  written  from  the  hand  of  that  energetical  character,  in- 
separable for  ever  from  the  history  of  our  age,  should  not  fail  in  a 
collection  of  this  kind.  I  request  you  to  say  my  thanks  especially  to 
Mr  D.  O'Connell  himself,  for  his  kindness  in  fulfilling  my  desire  in  such 
an  obliging  way.  It  affords  me  a  pleasure  to  assure  you,  sir,  of  the  true 
esteem  with  which  I  am  your  affectionate  Lewis. 

"Munich,  Oct.  12,  1841. 

"  To  Rev.  William  Aloysius  O.  Meara." 

This  letter  was  sealed  with  the  royal  arms,  and  addressed  by  the  King 
himself. 


CHALMERS  ON  0' COX  NELL. 


695 


A  French  lady  wrote  to  O'Connell  thus  :— 
"  A  Monsieur  O'Connell. 

u  Envoi  d'une  dame  franchise  pour  obtenir  de  lui  la  faveur  d'nn 
de  ces  autographes,  qui  ne  sont  refuses,  dit  on,  qu'aux  Empereurs/ 

"  J.  De  la  Porte. 

"30  Aout,  1841,  Bourdeaux." 

Mr  Daunt  gives  a  curious  illustration  of  his  fame  at  a 
3'et  earlier  period.    He  sa}rs  : — 

"  One  curious  illustration  of  the  extent  of  O'Connell's  fame  is 
the  following  definition,  in  Fliigel's  '  German  and  English  Diction- 
ary' (Leipsic,  1827): — 'Agitator,  n.  an  agitator — D.  O'Connell 
especially.' 

''In  Scotland  he  found  many  admirers.  Among  the  most  dis- 
tinguished of  these  was  the  celebrated  Chalmers.  Differing  widely 
in  politics  and  in  religion  from  O'Connell,  Chalmers  yet  cordially 
admitted  his  great  qualities  ;  observing  to  a  foreigner — 'He  is  a 
noble  fellow,  with  the  gallant  and  kindly,  as  well  as  the  wily  genius 
of  Ireland.' 

"On  Mr  Fitzpat rick's  visiting  London  in  1843,  one  of  the  habitues 
cf  the  Stock  Exchange  said  to  him — '  Your  Daniel  O'Connell,  so 
far  as  the  Money  Market  is  concerned,  is  one  of  the  great  powers 
of  Europe.    His  movements  have  a  sensible  effect  upon  the  funds.' " 

There  was  one  class  of  O'Connell's  admirers  whose  ap- 
probation he  valued  very  highly.  His  own  peace  principles, 
from  which  he  never  swerved  for  one  moment  during  his 
long  career,  procured  for  him  the  respect  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.    Mr  Daunt  says  : — 

"  There  was  another  description  of  Dissenters  from  Catholicity 
With  whom  O'Connell  was  on  much  better  terms  than  with 
the  proselyting  parsons.  These  were  the  Quakers.  He  undoubt- 
edly was  not  only  attached  to  many  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 


696  O'CONNELL  AND  THE  QUAKERS. 


but  lie  also  admired  some  of  their  principles.  In  both  Ireland 
and  England  he  was  in  the  habit  of  familiar  intercourse  with  cer- 
tain leading  members  of  their  sect ;  and  he  referred  with  parti- 
cular pleasure  to  the  compliment  paid  him  by  old  Joseph  Pease, 
who  was  uncle,  I  think,  to  the  Quaker  member  for  Durham.  That 
good  old  man  had  visited  him  often  in  London,  and  one  day  he 
said  at  parting,  '  Friend  O'Connell,  I  have  for  many  years  watched 
thine  actions  closely  ;  I  have  kept  mine  eye  upon  thee,  and  I  have 
never  seen  thee  do  aught  that  was  not  honest  and  useful.'  '  Truly/ 
said  O'Connell,  '  it  was  a  satisfaction  to  my  mind  to  be  appreciated 
by  that  good  man.  It  is  consoling  that  an  impartial  and  intelligent 
observer  should  do  me  justice.  It  makes  me  amends,  if  I  needed 
any,  for  a  life  of  labour,  and  for  the  vituperation  of  my  enemies/  " 

O'Connell  co-operated  cordially  with  the  Quakers  in  their 
efforts  for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  slaves 
in  America,  and  the  unhappy  victims  of  British  mis-rule  in 
India.  He  was  also  opposed  to  the  punishment  of  death, 
knowing,  as  he  did,  of  so  many  cases  in  Ireland  where  it  had 
been  unjustly  inflicted.  In  1838  he  spoke  at  a  meeting  at 
the  Town  Hall  in  Birmingham,  in  celebration  of  negro 
emancipation.  He  was  received  with  enthusiastic  cheering 
by  many  of  the  leading  men  of  the  day,  who  were  present. 
O'Connell  was  much  associated,  in  the  advancement  of 
these  objects,  with  the  late  Joseph  Pease  of  Darlington, 
above  referred  to.  His  daughter,  now  the  widow  of  Profes- 
sor Nichol,  has  kindly  given  the  following  recollections: — 

"In  travelling  from  London  that  day  (1st  August  1838),  my 
father  and  he  had  talked  over  the  subject,  and  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  an  energetic  agitation  must  be  set  on  foot ;  and  in  a  few 
months  the  British  India  Society  was  formed,  meetings  held  in 


DAILY  E A  BITS. 


697 


various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  a  journal  devoted  to  the  advocacy 
of  its  objects  established. 

"  He  told  me  that  for  twenty -five  years  of  his  life  he  rose  soon 
after  four,  lighted  his  own  fire,  and  was  always  seated  to  business 
at  five  ;  at  half-past  eight  one  of  his  little  girls  came  by  turns  to 
announce  breakfast— gave  an  hour  to  that.  At  half-past  ten  he  set 
off  to  the  courthouse — walked  two  miles  there  in  twenty-five 
minutes — always  reached  the  court  five  minutes  before  the  judges 
arrived ;  from  eleven  to  half-past  three  was  not  a  minute  unoccupied  ; 
at  half-past  three  he  returned,  taking  the  office  of  the  Catholic 
Association  in  his  way.  He  always  went  in  (the  regular  meetings 
were  only  once  a  week),  read  the  letters,  wrote  a  sentence  or  two  iu 
reply,  out  of  which  his  secretary  wrote  a  full  letter.  Returned  home; 
dined  at  four  ;  with  his  family  till  half-past  six ;  then  went  to  his 
study  ;  went  to  bed  a  quarter  before  ten,  his  head  on  his  pillow 
always  by  ten." 

This  was  indeed  O'Connell's  day  for  many  a  year  of 
his  long  and  useful  life.3    When  at  home  he  always  had 


3  Mrs  Nichol  has  kept  copies  of  a  number  of  autographs  which  O'Con- 
nell wrote  for  her  for  the  Boston  Anti-Slavery  Bazaar.  Some  of  these  are 
characteristic,  and  new  at  least  to  the  present  writer  : — "  D.  O'Connell, 
M.P.  Principle — That  conscience  should  be  free,  education  free,  the 
press  free,  the  people  free.'' — "  Daniel  O'Connell,  M.P.,  the  first  emotions 
of  whose  heart  beat  for  the  legislative  independence  of  Ireland." 

In  Miss  Mitford's  Life,  published  by  Bentley  (1870),  there  is  a  letter 
from  her  to  Miss  Jephson,  dated  30th  August  1834,  in  which  she  says  . 
— u  Did  I  tell  you  that  I  had  an  autograph  of  O'Connell's — most  charao 
teristic  ?    Here  it  is  : — 

1  Still  shalt  thou  be  my  waking  theme, 
Thy  glories  still  my  midnight  dream  ; 
And  every  thought  and  wish  of  mine, 
Unconquered  Erin  !  shall  be  thine. 

'  Daniel  O'Connell. 

1 August  4,  1834.' 

u  I  was  afraid  that  it  was  a  regular  circular  autograph,  but  I  heard  of 


698 


0' CON  NELL  IN  COVENTRY. 


mass  said  by  his  own  chaplain  before  breakfast ;  and  when 
in  London  or  Dublin,  he  rarely  omitted  hearing  mass  at  the 
nearest  church. 

In  March  1844,  a  meeting  was  held  in  St  Mary's  Hall, 
Coventry,  at  which  the  Mayor  presided.  The  object  was  to 
consider  the  grievances  of  Ireland,  and  O'Connell  was  the 
principal  speaker.  The  quaint  old  town  was  crowded  to 
excess,  and  hundreds  of  persons,  who  were  unable  to  obtain 
admittance  to  the  hall,  were  fain  to  content  themselves  with 
a  distant  view  of  O'Connell  as  he  proceeded  to  the  rail- 
way station,  en  route  for  London.  While  in  London  he 
was  received  into  the  Order  of  St  Joseph  and  Mary,  with 
considerable  ceremony,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
number  of  people.  The  Illustrated  London  News,  then 
recently  established,  gave  not  only  a  good  sketch  of  the 
ceremony,  but  also  a  spirited  drawing,  and  the  card  of  the 
brotherhood  or  guild. 

We  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  the  letters  which 
O'Connell  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam  from  November 

one  different  the  other  day,  and  have  found  out  that  this  was  written  for 
me  expressly,  which  rejoices  me  much.  I  have  just  been  writing  a  ser- 
mon on  Tolerance,  the  virtue  most  wanted  in  Ireland,  on  both  sides,  1 
think  ;  you  and  yours,  and  Daniel  O'Connell  himself,  seeming  to  me  the 
only  tolerant  persons  of  your  country,  Protestant  or  Catholic." 

Miss  Mitford  was  mistaken  about  the  autograph,  for  it  was  one  which 
O'Connell  gave  frequently. 

On  the  8th  April  1833,  she  wrote  to  Miss  Jephson — "  I  shall  entirely 
be  a  convert  to  your  countryman.  I  am  turned  O'Connellite,  partly  from 
love  of  his  speeches." 


LETTERS   TO  DR  MACE  ALE. 


699 


1840  to  July  1844,  and  with  an  important  document, 
which  has  been  entrusted  to  us  for  this  work  by  Isaac 
Butt,  Esq.,  Q.C.  :— 

"Darrynane  Abbey,  6th  November  1840. 

"  My  ever  dear  Lord; — I  write  merely  to  say,  that  if  it  strikes 
your  Grace  that  I  can  do,  or  say,  or  write  anything  to  forward  your 
views  respecting  the  approaching  election  for  Mayo,  you  have  only 
to  intimate  a  wish,  and  it  shall  of  course  be  to  me  as  a  command.  Sir 
T.  O'Malley  has  written  to  me,  but  I  have  replied  in  general  terms, 
referring  him  to  your  decision.  It  is,  to  be  sure,  very  unlikely  that 
I  could  in  any  respect  influence  the  Mayo  election  ;  and  I  write  to 
your  Grace  on  the  subject  only  because  others  foolishly  think  that  I 
could  be  of  use  to  them.  But  if  there  were  any  utility  in  me,  it 
should  all  be  most  cheerfully  and  readily  at  your  Grace's  command. 

"  I  was  glad  to  hear  that  O'Connor  Blake  is  a  candidate.  It  will 
delight  me  to  hear  that  he  has  your  countenance  and  support.  I 
think  it  would  be  a  happy  device,  but  of  that  you  must  be  a  better 
judge  than  I  can  be. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  veneration  and  regard,  of  your 
Grace  the  most  faithful  affectionate  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Conneli* 

"  Most  Rev.  Dr  MacHale." 

"  Darrynane  Abbey,  30th  November  1840. 
"  My  dear  and  ever-respected  Lord,— I  have  felt  great 
anxiety  as  to  the  mode  in  which  I  should  comply  with  your  Grace's 
command— for  your  request  is  justly  a  command  — to  address 
the  men  of  Mayo.  There  are  so  many  local  interests,  pre- 
judices, and  passions  to  be  consulted  and  avoided,  so  much 
irritation  to  be  soothed,  and  so  much  dormant  rancour  to  be 
allowed  to  remain  in  repose,  that  I  have  been  exceedingly  uneasy, 
lest,  whilst  I  sought  to  do  good,  I  might  be  doing  nothing  but 
mischief.    There  is  that  fellow  Cavendish ;  treating  him  as  he  ought 


700 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


to  be  treated  might  perhaps  provoke  him  to  continue,  or  give  him 
a  plausible  excuse  for  continuing,  his  canvass. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  I  have  resolved  to  draw  up  an  ad- 
dress in  the  form  which  appears  to  me,  at  this  distance,  suitable.  I 
7nake  two  copies  of  it.  The  one  I  send  to  your  Grace  ;  the  other  to 
Barrett  of  the  Pilot.  I  am  anxious  that  your  Grace  should  alter  and 
amend  the  address  in  any  manner  you  think  fit.  I  adopt  before- 
hand all  your  alterations,  and  make  them  my  own.  Barrett  will 
not  print  the  copy  I  send  him  until  he  hears  from  your  Grace.  You 
can  send  him  a  private  letter  telling  him  what  to  do  ;  but  until  he 
gets  that  letter  he  will  not  print  the  address.  If  you  alter  it,  send 
him  a,  full  copy  of  the  altered  address.  This  to  prevent  mistakes  in 
the  printing.  If  you  wished  for  my  presence  in  Mayo,  I  would  go 
there  at  once ;  or  my  son  John  would  go  agitating  there,  if  you 
thought  that  advisable.    In  short,  my  dear  Lord,  command  us  all. 

"  I  leave  this  at  the  close  of  next  week  for  Dublin.  I  will  be 
there,  please  God,  about  the  16th  of  December. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  ever  dear  Lord,  of  your  Grace  tha 
most  faithful,  affectionate,  humble  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  Most  Kev.  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

"  Merrion  Square,  August  1843. 
"  My  revered  Lord, — I  take  it  for  granted — I  hope  not  errone- 
ously— that  your  Grace  has  been  communicated  with  from  Loughrea 
and  Connemara.  As  to  the  former,  they  sent  me  Mr  Tully,  with 
whom  I  arranged  for  the  Loughrea  meeting  on  the  10th  of  Septem- 
ber;  and  I  have  just  fixed  the  17th  for  Connemara.  John  O'Niel 
of  Bunowen  Castle  travels  down  with  me  to  Connemara  ;  and  I 
think  it  likely  that  we  shall  be  invited  to  Ballynahinch  Castle  for 
Saturday  ;  at  least  I  have  reason  to  believe  it  from  a  letter  I  have 
received  some  time  ago  from  Miss  Martin  ;  and  I  write  to  your  Grace 
chiefly  to  know  whether  you  have  any  suggestion  to  give  me  upon 
these  subjects.    You  are  quite  aware  that  any  suggestion  of  yours 


NOTE  BY  ISAAC  BUTT. 


701 


is  a  command  to  me.  I  tliink  I  may  venture  to  wish  you  joy  of 
what  is  called  the  Queen's  speech.  It  has  already  made  a  most 
favourable  sensation  here,  and  is,  I  think,  calculated  to  enliven  the 
Repeal  zeal  all  over  Ireland. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  the  most  profound  respect,  of 
your  Grace  the  most  faithful,  humble  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  To  his  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

Note  Contributed  by  Isaac  Butt,  Esq.,  Q.C. 

u  A  statement  has  been  recently  made,  apparently  on  good  authority, 
which  appears  to  throw  some  light  on  the  transactions  of  this  period. 

"  It  is  to  the  effect  that  immediately  after  the  reversal  by  the  House 
of  Lords  of  the  judgment  against  O'Connell,  a  meeting  was  held  in 
London  of  the  leaders  of  the  Whig  party,  then  in  opposition,  and  that 
it  was  resol  ved  at  that  meeting  to  propose  to  Mr  O'Connell  and  the 
Irish  nationalists  an  alliance  on  the  basis  of  conceding  to  Ireland  a  Par- 
liament, administering  Irish  affairs,  under  a  system  of  federal  union 
with  Great  Britain. 

"  A  vague  and  undefined  belief  to  this  effect  has  generally  prevailed 
in  some  political  circles.  It  was  noticed  by  Mr  Butt  in  the  introduction 
to  the  first  edition  of  1  Irish  Federalism/  published  in  the  summer  of 
1870.  It  was  not,  however,  until  the  end  of  last  year  (1871)  that  the 
statement  assumed  a  distinct  and  authentic  form.  Mr  Cantwell,  a 
Dublin  solicitor  of  high  eminence,  who  had  been  attorney  for  O'Connell 
at  the  tiial  in  the  Queen's  Bench,  and  also  in  the  writ  of  error  in  the 
House  of  Lords  distinctly  stated  that  he  knew  of  the  meeting  of  the 
leaden  of  the  Whig  party,  and  of  their  resolution  to  offer  a  Federal 
Parliament  to  Mr  O'ConnelL  The  statement  attracted  a  great  deal  of 
attention.  It  was  made  the  subject  of  a  resolution  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Home  Government  Association,  and  was  commented  on  very  generally 
in  the  press.  Not  one  of  the  survivors  of  the  persons  alleged  to  have 
joined  in  the  resolution  have  denied  the  truth  of  the  statement.  Lord 
Russell  has  been  silent  on  the  subject,  although  his  attention  was 
pointedlv  called  to  it  by  Mr  Cantwell,  and  he  has  since  written  public 
letters  adopting  the  principle  of  Home  Rule  for  Ireland.    Mr  Cantwell 


NOTE  BY  ISAAC  BUTT. 


states  that  his  information  was  derived  from  a  person  who  was  a  Cabinet 
Minister  when  the  Whigs  returned  to  power  in  1846. 

"  Efforts  were  made  to  sound  the  opinions  of  some  of  the  leading 
nationalists  in  Dublin  by  a  gentleman  who  soon  after  filled  the  office  of 
Attorney-General.  Mr  Cantwell  does  not  consider  himself  at  liberty  to 
disclose  the  name  of  his  informant.  But  to  many  persons  it  is  no  secret 
that  the  late  Mr  Hatchell  was  the  person  who  endeavoured  to  obtain 
the  opinions  of  many  of  the  members  of  the  Repeal  Association. 

"  Time  will  probably  throw  more  light  upon  this  transaction.  At 
present  it  seems  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  Whig  leaders  were  in  1844 
ready  to  form  an  alliance  with  Mr  O'Connell,  as  representing  the  Irish 
people,  conceding  a  Federal  Parliament  as  one  of  its  terms.  Whether 
any  negotiations  were  opened  with  Mr  O'Connell,  or  if  so,  how  or  in 
what  niaaner  the/  were  met,  no  information  yet  before  the  public  teUj 


THE  CLOSING  SHADOWS  AND  THE  END* 
1843— 1847. 

CLONTARF — EXCITEMENT  IN  DUBLIN — INDICTMENT  OP  O'CONNELL— SENSATION— « 
FOREBODINGS — ADDRESS  TO  THE  PEOPLE — CONDOLENCES — JOSEPH  STURGE— 
THE  TRIAL — NOTICES  OP  THE  JUDGES,  THE  TRAVERSERS,  AND  THE  COUNSEL 
IN  THE  CASE — CHARGE  OF  THE  CHD3F  JUSTICE — THE  VERDICT — o' CONN  ELL 
IN  THE  HOUSE; — EXCITEMENT  OVER  THE  COUNTRY — THE  SENTENCE — INCAR- 
CERATION— FIRST  DAY  OF  IMPRISONMENT — RESPECT  SHOWN  THE  PRISONERS 
— DINNER-PARTIES  AND  "  BON-MOTS  " — MACCARTHY'S  POEM— GIVES  AND 
REFUSES  AUDIENCES — REVERSAL  OF  JUDGMENT  AND  LIBERATION — OVATION 
HOME — SHADOWS — THE  YOUNG  IREL ANDERS — RESCRIPT  FROM  ROME — THB 
FAMINE— BIDS  FAREWELL  TO  IRELAND — HOPES  TO  DIE  AX  SOME— DIARY  01 
ai%  SERVANT— DEATH— CONCLUSION. 


A' 


N  the  7th  of  October  1843,  Dublin  was 
stirred  as  it  had  seldom  been  stirred 
before.    O'Connell  had  proclaimed  a 
monster  meeting,  which  was  to  be 
held  at  Clontarf  on  Sunday  the  8th, 
and  on  the  7th  a  proclamation  sud- 
denly appeared  to  forbid  the  meeting.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  O'ConnelFs  consummate 
I ■■?  prudence  and  the  power  he  held  over  the  people 
saved  Ireland  from  scenes  of  blood,  and  the 
English  Government  from  obloquy. 

The  meeting  should  have  been  forbidden 
sooner,  or  not  forbidden  at  all.  To  forbid  it 
at  the  verv  last  moment  was  almost  sufficient 


a 


706 


RUMOURS  OF  AN  INDICTMENT. 


to  provoke  an  insurrection,  and  undoubtedly  Government 
was  prepared  for  such  an  extremity,  if  it  did  not  desire  it, 
for  guns  were  placed  in  readiness  to  mow  down  the  people, 
if  they  had  assembled  in  defiance  of  the  order.  0' Council 
saved  Ireland.  Messengers  were  despatched  on  the  fleetest 
horses  with  a  counter-proclamation  from  him,  which  was 
likely  to  have  far  more  weight  than  orders  from  any  other 
source,  desiring  the  people  to  remain  at  home.  The  Eev. 
W.  Tyrell  was  up  all  night  for  the  same  purpose ;  he  was 
subsequently  prosecuted,  but  died  of  fever,  brought  on  by 
exposure  to  cold  in  doing  the  work  of  peace. 

Dublin  was  rife  with  rumours.  In  a  few  days  there  waa 
more  than  rumour:  O'Connellwas  indicted.  For  the  first 
time  in  his  life  he  manifested  some  signs  of  fear.  He 
was  an  old  man.  Under  ordinary  circumstances,  his  life 
could  not  be  much  prolonged,  and  he  had  never  spared 
himself.  "  I  scarcely  think  they  will  attempt  a  prosecu- 
tion for  high  treason,"  he  said,  "  though,  indeed,  there  is 
hardly  anything  too  desperate  for  them  to  attempt.  If  they 
do,  I  shall  make  my  confession  and  prepare  for  death."  4 


4  "  On  the  11th  of  October  the  intention  of  the  Government  to  prose- 
cute certain  of  the  Repeal  leaders  for  sedition  was  confidently  rumoured. 
I  was  on  that  day  chairman  of  the  Repeal  Association.  After  the  meet- 
ng  I  asked  O'Connell  how  a  conviction  would  probably  operate  upon 
the  cause? 

"'What,"  said  I,  'will  the  Repealers  do  if  you  should  be  imprisoned, 
and  communication  with  their  guide  cut  off?  How  shall  we  act  if  tho 
flock  be  scattered  by  striking  the  shepherd  ? ' 


THE  INDICTMENT  SERVED. 


707 


He  tlionght  constantly  of  the  future,  and  said  one  day 
to  his  son  John,  his  ever-faithM  companion,  friend,  child, 
and  counsellor  all  in  one,  "  I  do  not  think  two  years'  im- 
prisonment would  kill  me;  I  should  continually  keep 
walking  about,  and  take  a  hath  every  day."  It  was 
evident  that  lie  dreaded  it. 

At  half-past  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Saturday, 
the  14th  of  October  1843,  Mr  Kemmis,  the  crown-solicitor, 
waited  on  O'Connell  and  presented  him  with  a  paper,  in- 
forming- him  that  Government  had  instituted  proceedings 
against  him  and  his  son,  John  O'Connell,  for  "  conspiracy 
and  other  misdemeanours."  After  all,  the  serious  charge 
anticipated  was  not  preferred.  Steele  was  in  the  house, 
and  walked  up  and  down  the  room,  asking  what  he  had  done 
that  he  should  not  be  included  in  the  indictment.  He  had 
not  long  to  wait  for  the  gratification  of  his  wish. 

At  three  o'clock,  O'Connell  and  his  son  went  to  Judge 


" '  Oh,  that  cannot  be,'  he  replied,  £  till  after  the  trial ;  and  in  the 
meantime  we  will  make  arrangements  to  provide  the  best  way  we  can  to 
li'.eet  such  a  contingency.  As  for  the  tyranny  itself,  why,  it's  only  to 
endure  L  !    It  cannot  in  its  own  nature  last  very  long.' 

M  Of  the  Repeal  rent  contributed  that  day,  £80  were  handed  in  under 
tLe  denomination  of  '  Proclamation  Money/  to  indicate  defiance  of  the 
Viceroy  and  the  prosecution. 

"  On  the  following  day,  the  12th  of  October,  a  report  was  spread  that 
the  Government  would  prosecute  upon  a  charge  of  high  treason. 
O'Connells  spirits,  which  had  previously  been  excellent,  seemed  sud- 
denly and  greatly  depressed  by  this  information."—- Personal  Recalls* 
tions,  vol.  ii.  p.  181. 


708       INDICTMENT  OF  HIS  COMPATRIOTS, 


Burton's  house,  in  Stephen's  Green,  to  perfect  his  bail. 
Immediately  after,  he  issued  a  short,  emphatic  address 
"  To  the  people  of  Ireland"  in  which  he  implored  them 
"  to  observe  the  strictest  and  most  perfect  tranquillity ; " 
and  added,  "  Be  not  tempted  by  anybody  to  break  the 
peace,  to  violate  the  law,  or  to  be  guilty  of  any  outrage 
or  disturbance."  In  the  end  he  promised  them  rej^eal  and 
•triumph. 

But  Steele  was  not  disappointed.  He  also  was  summoned 
and  held  to  bail.  For  speeches  at  Mullaghmast,  O'Con- 
nell,  Dr  Gray,  Mr  Ray,  and  John  Steele  were  charged. 
For  speeches  at  dinner,  there  were  O'Connell,  Dr  Gray, 
Steele,  John  O'Connell,  Ray,  and  Barrett.  For  being 
members  of  the  Repeal  Association,  there  were  O'Connell, 
Rev.  Mr  Tyrell,  P.P.,  Rev.  J.  Tierney,  P.P.,  Barrett, 
Ray,  John  O'Connell,  Gray,  Steele,  and  Gavan  Daffy. 
Saunders'  newspaper  for  the  day  announced  that  rumour 
said  Dr  MacHale,  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  Dr  Higgins, 
Bishop  of  Ardagh,  and  Lord  Ffrench,  were  to  be  indicted 
also.  The  principal  information  was  given  by  Mr  Hughes 
a  shorthand  writer,  who  had  been  sent  by  Government  t<* 
attend  the  Mullaghmast  meeting.  Portions  of  O'Connell'? 
speeches  there  were  set  forth  in  the  indictment,  and  there 
was  a  charge  of  "  physical  force  " — the  employment  of 
O'Connell's  "  police,"  and  the  temperance  bands  forming 
the  ground  for  this.  Dr  Gray  was  charged  with  holding 
the  Repeal  Arbitration  Court  at  Black-rock.    Mr  Duffy  waa 


NOT   WITHOUT  CONSOLATION. 


709 


charged  with  publishing  seditious  articles  in  the  Nation, 
which  he  had  established.6 

O'Connell  was  not  without  consolation  and  condolence. 
Joseph  Srurge,  the  well-known  Quaker,  wrote  to  him 
from  Birmingham,  enclosing  in  his  letter  a  resolution 
expressive  of  the  indignation  of  a  public  assembly  at  the 
suppression  of  the  Clontarf  meeting.5 

O'Connell  went  down  to  Darrynane  for  the  rest  of  the 
winter,  and  enjoyed  himself  there  as  thoroughly  as  usual. 
In  January,  he  returned  to  Dublin,  not  without  a  good- 
tempered  growl  at  the  Attorney-General  for  taking  him 
away  from  his  beagles  and  his  hunting.  The  soft,  mild, 
Kerry  weather  had  even  brought  out  the  thrushes. 

The  trials  commenced  on  the  loth  of  January  1844. 
They  were  called  the  monster  trials,  partly  because  of  the 
distinguished  persons  indicted,  partly  because  of  the  size 
of  the  indictment,  which  was  contained  on  six  rolls  of 
parchment,  ninety-seven  feet  long.    A  special  jury  was 


3  Nothing  in  the  Nation,  however,  could  have  been  stronger  or  more 
earnest  than  the  following  : — "  We  have  denounced  the  poor-laws  lustily, 
We  have  dwelt  indignantly  on  their  bad  and  brutal  principles,  their 
total  inapplicability  to  miserable  and  far-spent  Irish  poverty,  their 
■tinging  injustice,  their  wholesale  social  and  political  injury." — Leader 
in  Illustrated  Londun  News,  May  1844. 

6  The  Quaker  Sturge  was  not  the  only  person  who  expressed  approval 
of  O'Connell  at  this  period.  After  O'Connell  was  held  to  bail,  he  received 
a  letter  from  Archdeacon  Bathurst,  son  of  the  Bishop  of  Norwich,  in 
which  he  said  that  he  would  join  the  Asscciation  if  they  would  first  aUeiupt 
*  federal  union.    If  that  failed,  he  would  go  in  for  BepeaL 


710 


11  RICHARD'S  HIMSELF  AGAIN!" 


empanelled,  but  there  was  not  one  single  Catholic  on 
the  roll ;  and,  what  was  still  worse,  there  was  not  a  single 
liberal  Protestant. 

As  O'Connell  proceeded  up  to  Dublin,  he  was  entertained 
at  a  banquet  at  Clonmel,  by  the  Very.  Rev.  Dr  Burke. 
At  Kilkenny  he  received  an  address  from  the  Corporation. 
All  kinds  of  rumours  were  flying  in  Dublin ;  and,  on  the 
9th  of  January  it  was  said  the  trial  would  be  abandoned, 
though  the  summonses  were  served  on  witnesses  the  pre- 
vious day.  Bets  were  made  that  no  trial  would  be  held 
that  term.  The  excitement  became  greater  every  hour. 
An  aggregate  meeting  was  convened  in  the  Music  Hall, 
Dublin,  on  Saturday,  at  which  O'Connell  attended,  and 
appeared  in  good  health  and  spirits.  Sir  John  Power,  Mr 
Wise,  and  Mr  Thomas  Esmonde  were  present.  The  hall  was 
lit  with  gas,  and  about  ten  thousand  people  had  assembled. 
The  ground  of  meeting  was  the  careful  elimination  of 
Catholics  from  the  jury  panel.  Forde,  a  solicitor  for  the 
traversers,  spoke  at  considerable  length.  Shiel  spolce 
splendidly,  and  brought  the  house  clown  in  a  roar 
applause,  while  a  boy  cried  out,  "  Richard  's  himself  again." 
O'Connell  spoke,  but  he,  alas  !  was  not  himself.  He  hesi- 
tated for  words  ;  his  racy  fun  was  gone,  and  he  was  either 
unable  or  unwilling  to  use  strong  language. 

On  Monday,  the  15th  January,  the  trials  commenced. 
O'Connell  literally  went  in  state.  Had  he  been  the  king 
of  Ireland  going  to  open  Parliament,  the  procession  could 


GOES  ESCORTED   TO  TEE  TRIAL. 


711 


scarcely  have  been  more  impressive,  or  the  ceremonial  more 
imposing.  He  was  King  Dan,  the  king  of  the  people's 
beai  ts3  the  uncrowned  monarch  of  Ireland— of  a  people 
who  never  loved  a  man  less  because  of  his  misfortunes— of 
a  people  notoriously  devoted  to  a  fallen  cause.  The  Lord 
3r;»uy  took  O'Connell  to  the  Court  in  his  coach,  followed 
by  a  procession  of  aldermen,  all  Repealers  to  the  heart's 
core,  and  all  attired  in  their  official  costume. 

The  judges  were  Pennefather,  Chief-Justice;  Burton, 
Crampton,  and  Perrin.  The  two  former  were  well  known 
to  have  strong  Tory  proclivities.  Judge  Crampton  was 
remarkable  for  his  interest  in  the  temperance  movement, 
and  Judge  Perrin  was  a  Whig.  The  Chief-Justice  not 
only  charged  for  the  Crown,  but  against  the  traversers 
60  markedly  as  to  show  his  animus,  had  there  been  any 
doubt  on  the  subject.  The  Attorney-General  lunched  with 
him  every  day  during  the  trials.7  ]STo  doubt  the  verdict 
would  have  been  the  same  had  they  been  deadly  foes.  But 
it  is  well,  above  all  in  State  trials,  to  preserve  some  ap- 
pearance of  impartiality.  For  the  Crown  there  were  the 
Attorney-General,  Smith,  Warren,  Brewster,  Martley, 
Freeman,  Holmes,  Butler,  and  Napier.  For  O'Connell, 
and  the  other  eleven  traversers,  there  was  Shiel,  Whiteside, 
M'Donnough,   Moore,   Fitzgibbon,   Sir   C.  O'Loughlin, 

7  The  close  intimacy  between  the  Attorney-General  and  the  Chief- 
Justice  was  noticed  even  in  the  English  papers  of  the  day,  and  this 
circumstance  rna  le  a  matter  of  comment. 


7i2 


THE  JUDGES. 


O'Hagan,  O'Hea,  Clements,  MacCarthy,  Moriarty,  Close, 
and  Perrin.     Their  solicitors  were  Messrs  Mahony,  Cant 
well,  Gartland,  and  Forde. 

Chief- Justice  Pennefather  had  risen  to  eminence  by  his 
own  merit,  and  was  a  man  of  considerable  talent.  He  was 
called  to  the  bar  in  1796,  and  was  therefore  contemporary 
with  O'Connell.  In  addition  to  his  Tory  politics,  he  had 
evinced  a  strong  preference  for  England  and  English  society, 
and  lived  as  much  as  he  could  out  of  Ireland.  Judge  Burton 
was  an  Englishman.  He  was  at  one  time  a  Liberal,  but  in 
late  years  verged  towards  the  Conservative  party.  Judge 
Crampton  had  been  a  Liberal,  and  a  man  of  considerable 
literary  ability,  but  no  friend  of  O'Connell's.  Before 
Father  Matthew's  advent  he  gave  proof  of  his  devotion  to 
temperance,  by  ordering  the  contents  of  his  wine-cellar  to 
be  emptied  in  a  stream  which  flowed  through  his  property 
at  Bray,  in  the  county  of  Wicklow.  Judge  Perrin  was  a 
steady  friend  to  whatever  would  advance  the  social  state  of 
Ireland  apart  from  politics.  When  in  Parliament,  he  was 
noted  for  his  assiduous  attention  to  Irish  affairs.  Of  the 
traversers  a  few  words  may  be  said. 

O'Connell  looms  up  first  in  importance.  His  faithful  son 
John  was  then  a  little  past  thirty,  and  lately  married.  Mr 
Hay  had  begun  life  in  an  humble  way  as  a  brewer's  clerk, 
where  his  expert  penmanship  procured  advancement  for 
him  into  an  attorney's  office.  He  was  unmatched  as  an 
accountant.    Of  Steele  enough  has  been  said  elsewhere. 


THE  TRAVERSERS. 


713 


Mr  Barrett  had  been  a  brewer  in  early  life,  "  but  gave  up 
the  chemistry  of  malt  and  hops  for  political  fermentation." 
He  began  life  as  a  Conservative,  and  wrote  on  that  side. 
Eventually  he  commenced  the  Pilot  under  O'Connell's 
auspices.  He  had  already  suffered  imprisonment  for  pub- 
lishing one  of  O'Connell's  speeches.  His  leaders  were 
remarkable  for  vigorous  denunciation  and  sharp  sarcasm. 
In  private  life  he  was  gentle  and  gentlemanly.  Mr  Duffy, 
who  has  so  lately  been  the  head  of  Government  in  Australia, 
was  said  by  a  wit  of  the  day  to  have  "  pulled  stroke-oar  "  in 
Mr  Barrett's  Pilot,  He  then  set  up  the  Belfast  Vindicator, 
and  suffered  a  crown  prosecution.  Mr  O'Hagan,  now 
Lord  O'Hagan,  the  present  Lord-Chancellor  of  Iruand, 
defended  him  with  remarkable  ability.  He  was  convicted, 
nevertheless,  but  he  escaped  a  sentence.  He  compensated 
himself  by  establishing  the  Nation,  which  had  a  weekly 
circulation  at  this  period  of  from  eight  to  ten  thousand 
copies.  This  paper  was  the  organ  of  the  "  Young  Ireland  " 
party,  which  had  been  brought,  to  light,  if  not  to  life,  by 
the  poet  Thomas  Davis,  and  by  Gavan  Duffy.  Dr  Gray, 
now  Sir  John  Gray,  was  educated  for  the  medical  profession, 
but  his  talent  for  political  writing,  and  his  nationality, 
which  was  none  the  less  appreciated  because  he  did  not 
profess  the  national  faith,  led  him  to  abandon  the  scalpel 
for  the  pen.  At  this  period  he  was  a  man  of  slight  figure, 
and  apparently  ielicate  frame,  yet  he  lives  and  works 
still;  possibly  his  ardent  devotion  to  the  temperance  cause 


714  THE  COUNSEL  ON  BOTH  SIDES. 


has  contributed  to  this  result.  He  has  never  compromised 
an  opinion,  never  altered  his  politics,  he  has  never  ceased 
to  work  for  Ireland ;  through  all  the  changes,  troubles, 
and  fluctuation  of  thirty  years,  he  remains  at  his  post,  the 
only  one  of  these  traversers  who  has  not  been  taken  from 
Ireland  by  death,  or  ceased  to  work  for  her. 

In  the  year  1841  he  invested  his  capital  in  the  Freeman 
Journal,  then  the  daily  organ  of  the  Repeal  party,  and  still, 
with  equal  ability  and  unchanging  fidelity,  the  daily  organ 
of  the  Liberal  party  in  Ireland.8 

The  counsel  on  both  sides  were  distinguished  men ;  and, 
as  far  as  intellect  went,  the  forensic  encounter  was  equal. 
The  pleadings  were  opened  by  Mr  Napier,  and  the  indict- 
ment was  supported  by  Smith,  the  Attorney-General.  His 
speeches  were  frequently  interrupted,  and  from  the  first 
it  seemed  as  if  there  were  a  conspiracy  to  aggravate  a 
temper  which  was  said  to  be  rather  too  capable  of  aggrava- 
tion. The  principal  witnesses  were  reporters  and  policemen. 
The  reporters  were  brought  up  to  prove  the  utterance  of 
seditious  speeches,  but  their  evidence  was  not  as  satisfactory 
to  the  Crown  as  might  have  been  expected.  It  came  out, 
also,  that  one  of  these  gentlemen  had  transgressed  against 
the  etiquette  of  his  position,  and  acted  as  an  informer. 

8  Dr  Gray  did  a  signal  service  during  this  very  year,  1844,  to  tlie 
cause  of  religious  liberty.  A  poor  woman  named  Mary  McKeon  became 
a  Catholic,  and  for  doing  this  was  dismissed  from  her  situation  by  the 
Poor-Law  Commissioners.  Dr  Gray  took  up  her  cause  warmly,  and 
succeeded  in  obtaining-  her  restoration  to  her  post. 


ADDRESS  OF  TEE  CHIEF-JUSTICE.  715 


It  is  to  the  credit  of  the  "  fourth  estate  "  that  his  conduct 
was  denounced  indignantly  by  all  the  other  reporters  present. 
Shiel  and  Whiteside  made  speeches  which  would  have 
made  them  famous  if  they  had  not  already  been  known  to 
fame.  O'Connell  determined  to  be  his  own  counsel,  and 
did  nut  speak  until  the  twentieth  day  of  the  trial.  His 
speech  was  one  of  great  ability,  but  it  was  not  one  of  his 
most  successful  efforts.  Mr  Fitzgibbon  had  attacked  the 
Attorney-General  very  sharply  in  one  of  his  speeches; 
and  when  the  judges  left  the  court  for  a  few  minutes, 
the  irate  Attorney-General  flung  a  challenge  across  the 
court  to  Fitzgibbon.  The  bench  was  obliged  to  interfere 
t«>  make  up  the  quarrel.  The  judges,  too,  had  a  little 
fracas  amongst  themselves,  Judge  Crampton  being  guilty 
of  gross  discourtesy  to  Judge  Perrin.  When  the  latter 
was  speaking  he  flung  open  his  desk  and  made  so  much 
noise  with  parchments  and  books  as  to  render  the  address 
almost  inaudible. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  the  twenty-third  day  of  the 
trial,  Chief- Justice  Pennefather  commenced  his  charge. 
He  announced  at  the  beginning  that  his  brother  judges 
agreed  with  him,  and  that  his  would  be  the  only  ad- 
dress to  the  jury.  Men  looked  at  each  other  in  terrible 
anxiety,  for  so  far  there  had  been  some  doubt  how  the 
verdict  would  be  given,  some  hope  on  the  part  of  the 
thousands  who  waited  for  it  so  anxiously.  The  charge 
occupied  two  dajs,  but  the  Chief- Justice  had  not  spoken 


716 


THE  VERDICT. 


for  lmlf-an-liour  when  the  traversers  knew  their  fate  was 
sealed.9 

The  verdict  was  Guilty,  the  Eev.  Mr  Tierney  alone  being 
excepted.  It  being  Saturday,  and  past  twelve  at  night, 
the  jury  were  placed  in  custody  until  Monday  morning 
But,  late  as  it  was,  there  was  a  tremendous  rush  of  re 
porters  to  London.  Some  even  had  come  from  France  and 
Germany.  A  Government  steamer  was  waiting  to  take 
the  news  to  England,  and  the  Times  of  Monday  (Feb- 
ruary 12)  announced  the  fact  almost  at  the  same  moment 
that  the  verdict  was  officially  delivered  in  the  Queen's 
Bench  in  Dublin. 

O'Connell  went  to  London  at  once.  When  he  entered 
the  House  of  Commons,  the  Liberal  party  received  him  with 
a  burst  of  applause,  so  that  the  gentleman  who  was  speak- 
ing at  the  moment  was  obliged  to  pause.  Such  a  reception 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  very  gratifying  to  the 
Liberator,  if  he  could  only  have  believed  it  to  be  sincere. 

There  were,  undoubtedly,  many  men  in  the  House  who 
admired  and  supported  O'Connell,  and  there  were  also 
some,  like  Lord  John  Eussell,1  who  believed  that  he  had 


9  Lord  Normanby  said  in  the  House  of  Lords  that  when  he  got  into 
tlie  middle  of  it,  and  for  a  moment  forgot  the  speaker,  he  thought  he 
was  reading  the  Solicitor-General's  speech  for  the  Crown.  During  the 
charge,  the  Chief-Justice  generally  spoke  of  the  traversers  and  their 
crimsel  as  "  the  other  side.*" 

1  Lord  John  Russell  used  these  remarkable  words  when  speaking  of 
this  trial  in  the  House  of  Commons  : — 


PUBLIC  SYMPATHY. 


in 


been  unfairly  tried  by  a  deliberately  packed  jury.  But 
there  were  also  men,  many  men,  whose  sole  reason  for 
applauding  O'Connell  was  to  embarrass  the  Government. 

Public  meetings  were  now  held  in  different  parts  of 
England.  At  the  Covent  Garden  meeting,  O'Connell  said 
himself  that  "  the  scene  was  never  exceeded,  and  perhaps 
never  equalled  in  any  other  country."  At  Birmingham, 
the  English  papers  declared  that  his  presence  evoked 
"  thunders  of  applause." 

On  the  15th  of  April,  judgment  was  to  be  pronounced, 
but  it  was  deferred  on  account  of  a  motion  for  a  new  trial, 


"  Nominally,  indeed,  the  two  countries  have  the  same  laws.  Trial  by 
jury,  for  instance,  exists  in  both  countries  ;  but  is  it  administered  alike 
in  both  r 

He  then  proceeded  to  quote  from  a  speech  made  by  Brougham  in 
1823,  in  which  he  said  : — 

rt  In  Ireland,  however,  the  law  held  a  directly  opposite  doctrine. 
The  sect  to  which  a  man  belonged,  the  cast  of  his  religious  opinions,  the 
form  in  which  he  worshipped  his  Creator,  were  grounds  on  which  the 
law  separated  him  from  his  fellows,  and  bound  him  to  the  endurance  of 
a  system  of  the  most  cruel  injustice." 

He  then  gave  instances  in  which  liberal  Protestants,  as  well  as  Catho- 
lics, were  excluded  from  juries,  and  he  mentioned  that  this  was  the  rule 
in  Ireland. 

"  This  practice  is  so  well  known,  and  carried  out  so  generally,  that 
men  known  to  be  Liberals,  whether  Catholics  or  Protestants,  have 
ceased  to  attend  assizes,  that  they  might  not  be  exposed  to  these  public 
insults.  Now,  I  would  ask,  are  these  proofs  of  equal  laws,  or  laws 
Banal! y  administered  ?  Could  the  same,  or  similar  cases,  have  happened 
in  Yorkshire,  or  Sussex,  or  Kent?  Are  these  the  fulfilment  ot  the 
promise  made  and  engagements  entered  into  at  the  Union  V 

Such  was  Lord  John  Russell's  theory  (when  not  in  office)     It  is  - 


718 


TEE  SENTENCE. 


on  the  ground  of  misdirection  on  the  part  of  the  judge. 
Iso  one  doubted  the  "  misdirection,"  it  was  openly  con- 
demned by  eminent  lawyers  in  England,  but  the  rule  was 
refused. 

The  sentence  was  pronounced  on  the  30th  of  May,  by 
Judge  Burton,  the  duty  falling  to  him  as  senior  judge. 
The  four  judges  were  divided  as  to  its  severity.  Penne- 
father  and  Crampton  wished  to  give  O'Connell  two  years' 
imprisonment,  Judge  Burton  twelve  months,  and  Judge 
Perrin  six  months.  Judge  Burton's  award  was  at 
last  taken.  When  pronouncing  sentence  Judge  Burton 
was  deeply  affected,  and  actually  proclaimed  O'Connell's 

noticeable  phenomenon  of  English  political  life  that  gentlemen  out  of 
office  are  always  liberal  to  Ireland,  and  blame  the  injustice  of  the  Govern- 
ment for  the  time  being. 

Mr  Macaulay  expounded  his  theory.    He  said — 

"  The  affidavit  which  has  been  produced,  and  which  has  not  been 
contradicted,  states  that  twenty-seven  Catholics  were  excluded  from  the 
jury  list.  I  know  that  all  the  technicalities  of  the  law  were  on  the  side 
of  the  Crown,  but  my  great  charge  against  the  Government  is,  that 
they  have  merely  regarded  this  question  in  a  technical  point  of  view. 
\\q  know  what  the  principle  of  the  law  is,  in  cases  where  prejudice  ia 
likely  to  arise  against  an  alien,  and  who  is  to  be  tried  de  medietate 
liuguce.  Is  he  to  be  tried  by  twelve  Englishmen  ?  No  ;  our  ancestors 
knew  that  that  was  not  the  way  in  which  justice  could  be  obtained,  they 
knew  that  the  only  proper  way  was  to  have  one-half  of  the  jurymen  of 
country  in  which  the  crime  was  committed,  and  the  other  half  of  the 
country  to  which  the  prisoner  belonged.  If  any  alien  had  been  in  the 
situation  of  Mr  O'Connell,  that  law  would  have  been  observed.  You 
are  ready  enough  to  call  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  '  aliens '  when  it  suits 
your  purpose,  but  the  first  privilege,  the  only  advantage  of  alienage,  you 
practically  deny  them." 


TEE  CHARGE  OF  JUDGE  BURTON.  719 


innocence  of  the  charge  made  against  him,  as  it  had 
never  been  proclaimed  before. 

"  He  was  perfectly  convinced  that  the  principal  traverser  did 
intend  to  carry  his  real  object — the  abolition  of  the  Union — without 
the  infraction  of  the  public  peace,  without  (if  it  were  possible)  the 
shedding  of  one  drop  of  human  blood  j  he  believed  that  he  had  that 
design  rooted  in  his  mind  ;  that  he  desired  to  act  upon  it;  and 
that  it  was  by  the  great  influence  which  he  possessed  as  a  leader,  he 
had  been  able  to  keep  and  preserve  the  peace  to  the  extent  it  had 
been  kept  and  preserved.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  a  man 
who  felt  all  those  motives  and  desires  as  strongly  as  any  human 
being  could,  who  would  not,  on  any  account,  commit  an  act  of 
violence  or  bloodshed,  and  who  possessed  that  unbounded  authority 
and  influence,  made  no  use  of  it  for  the  purpose  of  producing  bad 
e  Meets.  If  he  did  not  misconceive  several  passages  in  the 
speeches  of  Mr  O'Connell,  they  were  used  for  the  very  purpose  of 
keeping  down  violence." 

O'Connell's  sentence  was  confinement  for  twelve  calendar 
months,  with  securities  to  keep  the  peace  for  seven  years, 
himself  in  £5000,  and  two  securities  of  £2000  each.  Con- 
sidering that  no  man  had  ever  kept  the  peace  in  Ireland 
as  he  had  done,  the  security  demanded  was  unnecessary. 
John  O'Connell,  Dr  Gray,  Steele,  Barrett,  Duffy,  and  Ray 
were  to  be  imprisoned  for  nine  calendar  months,  to  pay  a 
line  of  fifty  pounds,  and  to  be  bailed  to  keep  the  peace  also. 

The  traversers,  however,  were  allowed  to  choose  their 
place  of  incarceration.  O'Connell  chose  Richmond  Bride- 
well. At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  traversers  were 
escorted  to  prison  by  mounted  police.  They  were  followed 
by  thousands  in  death-like  silence;  only,  when  they  reached 


720 


IN  PRISON 


the  prison-gate,  some  long,  loud,  ringing  cheers  were  given 
for  the  Liberator.  He  then  addressed  the  people  of  Ireland 
in  a  short  earnest  letter,  beseeching  them,  even  adjuring 
them,  by  the  holy  name  of  God,  to  remain  quiet.  They 
obeyed  him,  but  they  did  not  forget  him.  The  Repeal 
rent  rose  up  to  near  £2000  a  week. 

However  O'Connell  may  have  dreaded  imprisonment  in 
perspective,  he  bore  up  cheerfully  under  the  actual  inflic- 
tion. Yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  injured  his  health 
seriously.  He  was  too  old,  too  long  accustomed  to  a  free 
life,  and  to  a  peculiarly  active  life,  to  bear  being  cooped 
up  all  the  bright  summer  months  in  one  place. 

At  that  time  the  law  with  regard  to  political  prisoners 
did  not  class  them  or  treat  them  as  felons.  They  suf- 
fered incarceration,  nothing  more.  CTConnell's  friends 
crowded  to  see  him.  Every  day  hampers  of  provisions  of 
all  kinds  were  sent  to  him.  The  traversers  had  supplies 
for  a  siege.  They  held  levees  every  hour,  they  had  dinner 
parties  almost  every  evening ;  they  had  a  fair  space  for  exer- 
cise, but  a  jail  is  not  home.  "  Three  times  round  the  jail 
garden  is  a  mile,"  said  O'Connell,  "  and  I  will  walk  it  three 
times  a  day;  "  and  so  he  did;  but  the  jail  garden  wanted 
the  invigorating  breezes  of  his  ocean-girt  Darrynane. 

NARRATIVE   BY   SIR  JOHN   GRAY,  M.P. 

"  THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  THE  IMPRISONMENT. 

"  The  30th  of  May  184-1  was  a  remarkable  day  in  the  life  oi 
O'Connell.    On  the  morning  of  that  day  he  and  his  co-traversera 


FIRST  DAY  OF  THE  IMP R IS 0 S JI EX T.  721 


appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Queen's  Bench  by  order  of  the  Court. 
The  solicitors  engaged  thought  the  order  might  be  preparatory  to 
their  receiving  judgment,  and  that  it  might  be  to  fix  a  day  for  coming 
up  to  hear  the  judgment  of  the  Court  ;  but  fearing  that  it  might  be 
with  the  former  object,  they  sent  warning  to  each  of  the  traversers 
to  be  in  the  Court  at  the  hour  named.  The  Court  was  not  crowded, 
though  a  considerable  number  of  leading  men  were  present — for  it 
waa  not  generally  known  that  the  sentence  was  to  be  pronounced  on 
that  morning.  A  few  there  were  who  had  positive  information  that 
it  was  probable  that  the  Repeal  traversers  would  leave  the  Court  that 
morning  for  the  prison,  and  they  parted  from  the  immediate  members 
of  their  families  with  doubts  as  to  when  they  would  meet  again,  though 
with  a  faint  hope  that  incarceration  would  not  commence  for  about 
a  week,  the  expectation  being  that  that  time  would  be  given  for 
making  the  requisite  arrangements  for  a  prolonged  absence  from 
family  and  home.  The  leave-taking  on  the  morning  of  the  30th 
was  often  spoken  of  in  prison,  and  made  the  topic  of  many  a  good- 
humoured  joke.  The  scenes  were  not  lachrymose  or  heartrending, 
as  the  outer  public  might  have  expected,  for  each  man  of  the  party, 
the  oldest  as  well  as  the  youngest,  felt  proud  of  the  distinction  of 
being  the  companions  of  the  Liberator  in  his  imprisonment,  as  he 
was  of  being  reckoned  among  his  followers  and  co-liberators  in  the 
great  work  to  which  the  great  tribune  had  devoted  his  life.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  add  that  arrangements  were  made  to  have  the 
result  of  the  meeting  in  Court  communicated  at  once  to  the  several 
families,  and  that  duty  being  entrusted  to  Patrick  Vincent  Fit* 
patrick,  the  ever-active  agent  of  the  O'Connell  rent,  was  carried  out 
With  singular  rapidity,  and  friendly  care  and  consideration.  At 
lenth  the  hour  arrived,  and  the  judge  (Burton)  proceeded  to  de- 
liver judgment.  Burton  was  for  many  years  the  circuit-companion 
and  personal  friend  of  O'ConnelL  He  was  a  man  of  high  principle, 
genial  and  true  as  a  friend,  and  a  great  admirer  of  O'Connell's  for  his 
forensic  power  and  personal  qualities.  He  commenced  with  much 
calmness,  but  evidently  labouring  under  great  emotion.  As  he  pro- 
ceeded  his  a-ed  face  became  suffused,  his  voice  tremb.ed,  and, 
suddenlv  choking  with  emotion,  his  utterance  failed,  and,  bursting 


722       FIRST  DAT  OF  THE  IMPRISONMENT. 


into  tears,  he  hid  his  face  in  his  hands.  Every  person  in  Court  wag 
moved,  save  the  traversers  alone,  who,  fortified  with  the  sense  of  the 
glory  that  awaited  them  in  being  identified  with  their  chief,  were  as 
impenetrable  to  sentiment  as  the  nether  millstone.  In  a  few  minutes 
the  kind-hearted  judge  recovered  his  self-possession,  and  concluded 
the  formal  part  of  the  judgment.  The  judgment  over,  the  traversers 
now  became  prisoners,  and  in  the  formal  custody  of  the  sheriff  they 
retired  to  one  of  the  side  rooms  of  the  Court,  not  at  the  moment 
knowing  to  what  prison  they  were  to  be  assigned.  The  ever-vi'gi. 
lant  and  active  Fitzpatrick  now  entered  on  another  of  his  self- 
imposed  tasks.  He  had,  in  preparation  for  all  contingencies,  taken 
advice  as  to  the  healthiness  of  the  local  prisons,  and  elected  Rich- 
mond— as  the  Court  privately  intimated  to  the  leading  counsel  that 
such  election  would  be  accorded  to  the  Emancipator  of  the  Catho- 
lics of  the  Empire.  Then  commenced  the  preparations  for  the 
removal  of  '  the  State  prisoners.'  A  carriage  was  procured  for  CTCon- 
nell,  and  covered  vehicles  for  his  fellow-prisoners.  The  cavalcade 
took  a  circuitous  route  to  Richmond  Bridewell,  and  so  well  had 
Mr  Fitzpatrick  performed  his  friendly  office  of  advising  the  pri- 
soners' families  of  the  result  and  destination,  that  the  chief  members 
had  arrived  at  Richmond  before  the  prisoners.  Woman's  fond  and 
generous  nature  here  displayed  itself  in  all  the  beauty  of  loftiness 
and  love.  Tears  and  sobs  were,  however,  soon  converted  into  smiles, 
as,  one  by  one,  the  prisoners  met  their  friends  with  a  joyous  laugh 
of  manly  pride,  and  asked  for  congratulations  at  their  being  deemed 
worthy  of  the  honours  of  that  day.  The  Board  of  Superintendence 
was  hastily  summoned  to  give  directions  to  the  governor  (Mr  Purdon) 
as  to  location  and  discipline  of  the  prisoners.  Fitzpatrick  had  a  long 
interview  with  the  Board  in  their  official  chamber.  He  had  also  dis- 
cussed matters  with  the  governor  and  deputy-governor,  which  resulted 
in  permission  being  given  to  the  officials  to  hire  their  private  resi- 
dences to  the  prisoners — the  prisoners  giving  their  word  of  honour 
that  they  would  not  violate  the  discipline  to  be  settled  tor  their  guid- 
ance, or  use  the  privilege  awarded  to  them  to  effect  their  escape. 
While  these  arrangements  were  being  made,  and  the  Board  were  en- 
gaged in  fixing  the  rules  and  the  leading  details  of  the  discifiliy  e  appli- 


FIRST  DAY  OF  THE  IMPRISONMENT. 


cable  to  the  special  persons  they  had  to  deal  with,  the  chief-warder 
was  engaged  in  other  and  formal  duties.  O'Connell  and  his  com- 
pamons  each  entered  the  prison  'office,' which  stands  to  the  left 
of  the  entrance-hall,  and  the  warder  duly  entered  the  age,  height 
Kilour  of  hair  and  eye,  and  the  education  of  each  of  the  "prisoners' 
in  the  ordinary  book  and  in  the  ordinary  red-tape  style,  and  regular 
ill  succession  to  the  prisoners  who  had  last  previously  entered 
within  the  prison  walls."2 

"  The  entries  made,  the  prisoners  still  remained  in  the  outer  hall,  as 
do  all  prisoners,  till  each  is  assigned  his  future  'quarters/  At  length 
O'Conneli  was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  the  Board  of  Superintend- 
ence. As  he  entered  the  room,  the  Chairman  of  the  Board  at  once  stood 
erect,  a  movement  followed  by  every  member  present.  The  prisoner 
was  respectfully  saluted  by  a  bow,  which  he  graciously  returned 
He  was  then  courteously  informed  that  the  Board  were  ready  to 
award  him  very  large  privileges  if  he  would,  on  the  part  of  himself 
and  fellow-prisoners,  give  a  pledge  not  to  use  the  concessions  to  effect 
an  escape  from  prison.  With  that  gentlemanly  regard  which  O'Connell 
ever  showed  for  the  feelings  of  the  humblest  of  his  followers  in  whom 
he  confided,  the  old  Irish  gentleman  said  he  would  consult  his  friends 
and  then  swear  for  them.  He  came  to  the  hall,  repeated  the  words  of 
the  Board,  and  was  met  by  1  Your  promise,  sir,  should  be  law  to  us,' 
and  immediately  on  his  return  the  Board  broke  up  ;  passing  through 
the  hall,  several  of  them  addressed  a  few  words  of  friendly  condolence 
to  him,  and  parted  from  their  chieftain,  now  that  they  were  outside 
their  official  chamber  and  off  duty,  with  a  cordial  shake  of  hands. 

*  The  Board  having  departed,  the  governor  communicated  to 
the  prisoners  the  arrangements  made  through  the  kind  inter- 
vention of  Fitzpatrick,  and  the  generous  action  of  the  Board, 
especially  the  prison -governor,  Joseph  Boyce,  who,  though  an 
earnest  Conservative,  displayed  a  high-minded,  gentlemanly,  and 


2  I  am  indebted  to  Sir  John  Gray  for  the  narrative  given  above.  It 
cannot  fail  to  be  of  special  interest,  as  being  his  own  personal  recollec- 
tions.   The  prisoners  had  given  names  to  certain  places  in  the  garden 
A  small  mound  was  called  Tari.  another  place  Mnllaghinast. 


724       FIRST  DAT  OF  THE  IMPRISONMENT. 


sympathising  feeling  towards  the  Liberator,  which  never  ought  to 
be  forgotten  to  him  or  his,  and  who  largely  influenced  his  friends 
in  the  Board  in  framing  the  mild  rule  under  which  the  prisoners 
lived  in  Richmond.  As  yet  the  arrangement  was  one  by  which  the 
governor's  and  deputy-governor's  house  was  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  the  prisoners.  O'Connell,  of  course,  had  the  first  selection  of 
rooms,  and  he  fixed  on  a  second  floor  bed-room  in  the  deputy-gover- 
nor's house,  as  being  near  the  only  room  large  enough  for  all  the 
State  prisoners  to  dine  in  together.  John  O'Connell  naturally  selected 
a  room  near  his  illustrious  father.  C.  G.  Duffy,  lately  Prime  Mini- 
ster of  Victoria,  selected  the  dining-room  and  adjoining  bed-room 
in  the  governor's  house.  Dr  Gray,  now  Sir  John  Gray,  M.P.  for 
Kilkenny,  selected  the  drawing-room  and  adjoining  bed-room  in  the 
same  department,  and  Steele  and  Kay  made  choice  of  rooms  over 
those  of  Duffy  and  Gray,  while  Barrett  selected  rooms  between  the 
governors  and  deputy-governor's  chief  apartments,  but  practically 
in  the  deputy-governor's,  as  he  said  '  to  be  near  O'Connell.'  Mrs 
John  O'Connell,  Mrs  Gray,  Mrs  Duffy,  Mrs  Barrett,  and  Mrs  Ray 
were  installed  as  rulers  in  the  respective  '  cells '  of  their  husbands, 
and  great  was  the  confusion  of  bandboxes  and  parcels,  great  and 
small,  and  trunks  and  bags,  as  they  were  tumbled  into  the  hall  of 
Richmond  Bridewell  on  that  day.  Each  was,  however,  soon  restored 
to  order  under  the  gentle  sway  of  the  ladies,  and  as  dinner  hour 
approached  and  the  bell  rang,  the  prisoners,  each  with  his  wife  or 
relative,  might  be  seen  assembling  in  the  great  dining-room  in  the 
deputy-governor's  house,  not  in  full  dress,  but  in  something  nearly 
approaching  to  it.  O'Connell  on  that  day  led  'Mrs  John,'  as  he  affec- 
tionately called  her,  to  her  seat,  and  the  first  dinner  in  Richmond  wag 
partaken  of  by  as  joyous  a  family  party  as  ever  assembled.  Seated 
at  a  round  table,  the  property  of  the  governor,  now  in  the  possession 
of  Lady  Gray,  the  prisoners  were,  on  that  occasion,  in  allusion  to 
the  great  round  table,  called  by  the  Liberator  '  The  Knights  of  tha 
Round  Table,'  a  title  they  bore  during  their  stay  at  Richmond." 

The  following  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  prison  record,  above  re- 
ferred to,  which  has  not  been  previously  published: — 


a- 

V5 


5* 

w 

c 

c 

o 
< 

JO 
* 


H    O    S    H          vi  p 

8    i    a   g  9  P  o 

£  p  I  1  s  f  tf 

w  o  F  :    .    |  g 
5  ^  .   .   .  *-  * 

I 

00       C                to  o 

o     m     m     oo  *. 

B) 
■ 

C">           at    <s>  en 

3   B   s  3   Si   s  » 

EP    *      ■      e*  * 
jj»     L,    ,£            ^     o  ^ 

p    5"    5"    5'    ='    5'  ~ 

f* 

Dark. 

Pair. 

Fair. 
Oroy. 
(J  roy. 

Brown 
Grey. 

0  t    ~    ~         ^  ? 

1  £-    9     o     E.    S.  5 
If     P     S.     1     n     ^  c. 

II 

a 

m  O 

i3  §  ?  i3  i  s  1 
g  1  g.  I  b  g  i 

?  I  ■  -x  a  s  § 

=? 

9 
p 

Dan  iHior. 

do. 
M.  Doctor. 
Gentleman. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

o 

| 

a 
g 
2 

ED 

o  o  o  o  o  tj  = 

p     o     o     p     p     o  -» 

r  3 

c     o     a     o    o    o   .  -  — 
p 

5.Q 
l« 

Con- 
spiracy, 

Samo. 
Samo. 
Same 
Samo. 
Samo. 
Samo. 

o 

p 

• 

Q.  Bench. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 

=  * 
II 

©     ©     to     ©     o  « 

a     o    o    ©    S     g  2 

oc 
8 

5 

s 

CpCIOOi^^ 

PlscM-ged 

by  order  of 
Government 

Fiiiea. 

—  ill! 

p  m  g»  g>  gpg^fg 

5     I     p     P     •  ■     ©  ® 

^  2  n  - 

OQ 

c 

s 

f 

%  3 


oo 


I? 

sr 


o 
o 

I— I 

d 

P 


726    "THE  RISING  OF  TEE  NATION  AT  LAST" 


While  O'Connell  was  in  prison  the  Catholic  hierarchy 
throughout  Ireland  vied  with  one  another  who  should  have 
the  honour  of  celebrating  mass  for  him  each  day  ;  so  numer- 
ous and  pressing  were  the  requests  of  those  who  wished  to 
pay  him  this  mark  of  respect,  that  it  was  actually  necessary 
to  secure  a  day  some  time  before.  The  following  letter  will 
show  that  the  great  Archbishop  of  the  west  was  as  desir- 
ous of  paying  this  mark  of  respect  to  O'Connell  as  tic 
humblest  curate  : — 

"Richmond  Prison,  2d  July  1844. 

"My  Lord, — I  have  the  honour  to  announce  to  your  Grace  that 
my  father  will  feel  deeply  indebted  by  the  kind  fulfilment  of  your 
offer,  to  celebrate  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  here,  at  eight  o'clock 
to-morrow  morning. 

"  I  am,  with  most  profound  respect  and  veneration,  of  your  Grace 
the  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  John  O'Connell. 

"The  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

The  prisoners  gave  dinner-parties  several  times  in  each 
week,  and  it  was  on  one  of  these  occasions  that  O'Connell 
uttered  a  bon  mot  which  is  illustrated  in  the  present 
work,  Many  of  the  staff  of  the  Nation  were  present;  and 
as  he  rose  from  the  table,  he  turned  to  Mr  Denis  Florence 
MacCarthy,  and  said,  with  a  look  of  humour  which  he  alone 
could  give,  "  See,  MacCarthy,  there 's  '  the  rising  of  the 
nation '  at  last." 

Mr  MacCarthy's  poem  on  O'Connell's  incarceration  is 
inserted  here,  not  only  for  its  own  merit,  but  because 
O'Connell  himself  thought  highly  of  it. 


MACCARTE Y'S  POEM. 


727 


"CEASE  TO  DO  EVIL — LEARN  TO  DO  WELL."* 

"  O  thou,  whom  sacred  duty  hither  calls, 

Some  glorious  hours  in  freedom's  cause  to  dwell, 
Read  the  mute  lesson  on  the  prison  walls— 
'  Cease  to  do  evil— learn  to  do  well ! ' 

*  If  haply  thou  art  one  of  genius  vast, 

Of  generous  heart,  of  mind  sublime  and  grand, 
Who  all  the  spring-time  of  thy  life  hast  passed, 

Battling  with  tyrants  for  thy  native  land ; 
If  thou  hast  spent  thy  summer  as  thy  prime, 

The  serpent  brood  of  bigotry  to  quell,— 
Repent,  repent  thee  of  thy  hideous  crime, 

4  Cease  to  do  evil— learn  to  do  well/ 

"  If  thy  great  heart  beat  warmly  in  the  cause 

Of  outraged  man,  whate'er  his  race  might  be  ; 
If  thou  hast  preached  the  Christian's  equal  laws, 

And  stayed  the  lash  beyond  the  Indian  sea  ; 
If  at  thy  call  a  nation  rose  sublime, 

If  at  thy  will  seven  million  fetters  fell,— 
Repent,  repent  thee  of  thy  hideous  crime, 

*  Cease  to  do  evil — learn  to  do  well ! ' 

aIf  thou  hast  seen  thy  country's  quick  decay, 
And,  like  a  prophet,  raised  thy  saving  hand, 
And  pointed  out  the  only  certain  way 

To  stop  the  plague  that  ravaged  o'er  the  land  ; 


*  The  admonition,  "  Cease  to  do  evil — learn  to  do  well,"  is  cut  in  deep 
letters  on  the  front  of  the  Richmond  Penitentiary,  South  Circular  Road, 
Dublin,  the  prison  in  which  O'Connell  and  the  other  political  prisoneia 
were  confined  in  the  year  1844 


728 


MACCARTHTS  POEM. 


If  thou  hast  summoned  from  an  alien  clime 

Her  banished  senate,  here  at  home  to  dwell,— 

Kepent,  repent  thee  of  thy  hideous  crime, 
'  Cease  to  do  evil- — learn  to  do  well ! ' 

"Or  if,  perchance,  a  younger  man  thou  art, 

Whose  ardent  soul  in  throbbings  doth  aspire, 
Come  weal,  come  woe,  to  play  the  patriot's  part, 

In  the  bright  footsteps  of  thy  glorious  sire ; 
If  all  the  pleasures  of  life's  youthful  time 

Thou  hast  abandoned  for  the  martyr's  cell,— 
Do  thou  repent  thee  of  thy  hideous  crime, 

'  Cease  to  do  evil — learn  to  do  well ! ' 

(i  Or  art  thou  one  whom  early  science  led 

To  walk  with  Newton  through  the  immense  of  he&vent 
Who  soared  with  Milton,  and  with  Mina  bled, 

And  all  thou  hadst  in  freedom's  cause  hast  given  ? 
Oh  !  fond  enthusiast,  in  the  aftertime 

Our  children's  children  of  thy  worth  shall  tell, 
England  proclaims  thy  honesty  a  crime, — 

*  Cease  to  do  evil — learn  to  do  well ! ' 

u  Or  art  thou  one  whose  strong  and  fearless  pen 

Housed  the  Young  Isle,  and  bade  it  dry  its  tears^ 

And  gathered  round  thee  ardent,  gifted  men, 
The  hope  of  Ireland  in  the  coming  years'? 

Who  dares  in  prose  and  heart-awakening  rhyme, 

Bright  hopes  to  breathe  and  bitter  truths  to  tellf— 

Oh  !  dangerous  criminal,  repent  thy  crime, 

*  Cease  to  do  evil — learn  to  do  well ! ' 

Cease  to  do  evil ' — ay  !  ye  madmen  cease  ! 
Cease  to  love  Ireland — cease  to  serve  her  well; 
Make  with  her  foes  a  foul  and  fatal  peace, 

And  quick  will  ope  your  darkest,  dreariest  cell. 


GIVES  AUDIENCES. 


729 


'  Learn  to  do  well ' — ay  !  learn  to  betray — 
Learn  to  revile  the  land  in  which  you  dwell ; 

England  will  bless  you  on  your  altered  way— 
4  Cease  to  do  evil — learn  to  do  well ! '  " 

(It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  first  three  stanzas  refer 
to  O'Connell  ;  the  fourth  to  his  son,  Mr  John  O'Connell ;  the  fifth 
io  Thomas  Steele,  a  graduate  of  Cambridge,  and  a  man  of  great 
ecientilio  and  literary  acquirements  ;  and  the  sixth  to  Charles  Gavan 
Dully,  lately  Prime  Minister  in  Australia.") 

The  traversers  also  amused  themselves  by  issuing  a 
paper  every  week,  which  they  called  the  Prison  Gazette,  in 
which  they  quizzed  each  other  unmercifully.  Gavan  Duffy, 
Dr  Gray,  and  Barrett  had,  however,  ample  occupation  in 
writing  for  their  own  papers. 

"  During  his  imprisonment,"  observes  Sir  John  Gray,  in  a  private 
letter  to  the  present  writer,  "  O'Connell  was  as  accessible  to  visi- 
tors, and  as  informal  in  his  mode  of  'giving  audiences'  as  the 
most  junior  of  his  companions.  A  '  friend  of  the  cause,'  from  the 
most  distant  village  in  Ireland,  whether  lay  or  clerical,  who  desired 
to  see  *  the  Liberator,'  was  at  once  presented  by  one  of  his  fellow- 
prisoners,  some  member  of  the  family  of  a  '  fellow  captive/  or 
Borne  one  of  the  faithful  body-guard  which  was  always  in  attend- 
ance on  'the  Liberator'  as  he  took  his  walk  in  the  prison-garden 
cr  sat  in  <  Tara '  or  ■  Mullaghmast.'  By  a  sort  of  instinct  of  what 
was  universally  felt  to  be  due  as  a  matter  of  respect  to  the  '  un- 
crowned monarch'  of  the  Irish  heart,  no  stranger  was  permitted  to 
approach  his  person  unless  presented  by  some  friend  ;  but  there  was 
BO  rule,  no  form,  no  specified  observance,  no 'hedging  round 'of 
the  person  ;  vet,  without  any  prescribed  etiquette,  'Steele,  or  Duffy, 
or  Dr  Gray  'or  Barrett,  or  John  O'Connell,  or  my  dear  Ray,1  was 
always  at 'hand,  and  the  humblest  friend,  though  personally  un- 
known, was  certain  of  a  'presentation'  and  a  cordial  greeting.  Not 


730 


AN  AUDIENCE  REFUSED. 


so  "with  those  who  came  from  motives  of  prying  curiosity  or  in 
a  worse  spirit,  to  see  how  the  great  Irishman  looked  in  prison,—, 
how  he  bore  himself — how  he  felt — whether  buoyant  or  cast 
down.  Such  men  usually  met  with  a  rebuff  which  made  them  feel 
that  O'Connell  in  prison  was  still  Ireland's  Liberator,  and  that, 
while  the  humblest  visitor,  who  knew  what  was  due  to  true  great- 
lies?,  was  welcome,  whatever  his  politics  or  creed,  the  insolent  scoffer 
at  the  cause  symbolised  by  O'Connell  was  sure  to  return  discom- 
fited and  abashed.  On  one  occasion,  a  noble  lord  from  a  midland 
county  knocked  at  Richmond  gate,  sent  his  card  by  a  turnkey  to 
4 the  governor'  of  the  prison  with  his  compliments.  '  that  he  wanted 

to  see  Mr  O'Connell.'    Lord   marched  into  the  oblong  space 

between  the  prison  and  the  outer  wall  on  which  was  placed  the 
massive  gate  which  led  to  the  interior.  The  governor  read  the 
card  in  due  course,  but  being  at  the  time  engaged  officially,  Lord 

 was  left  for  some  time  alone.    In  about  ten  minutes  '  the 

governor,'  who  did  not  know  the  person  of  the  '  Lord,'  approached 
with  the  turnkey  and  bowed.  The  Lord  addressed  him,  '  Ah  !  Mr 
Governor,  I  presume  ;  I  am  very  anxious  to  see  Mr  O'Connell.' 
'You  know  him,  I  presume?'  was  the  reply  of  the  governor,  who 
was  a  thorough  Irish  gentleman  of  the  old  Conservative  school. 
*  Why,  I  do  not  know  him,  but  I  should  like  to  see  him,  if  you  will 
arrange  it  for  me.'  '  My  Lord,  I  will  take  your  card  to  the 
Liberator,  who  is  in  the  garden.'  '  I  will  go  in  with  you,'  said  the 
curious  Lord.  'Yes,  my  Lord,  if  the  Liberator  directs  you  to  be 
admitted  when  he  sees  your  card.  I  will  take  it  to  him.'  I  was 
present  when  the  above  conversation  was  reported  to  O'Connell 
by  the  fine  old  gentleman  who  then  held  the  office,  one  of  the 
Purdons  of  Meath.  O'Connell  heard  the  details  in  silence  ;  he 
looked  at  the  card  ;  a  curl  of  scorn  played  upon  his  upper  lip  for  a 
second  ;  the  card  fell  to  the  ground,  rather  it  was  thrown  there, 
and,  rising  from  his  seat,  O'Connell  said,  'I'll  not  see  him,  Mf 
Purdon,'  turning,  at  the  same  time,  towards  the  garden  gate.  '  But, 
sir,'  said  Purdon,  '  he  is  at  the  garden  gate.'     4  Then,'  replied 


ADDRESSES. 


731 


O'Connell,  ■  I  will  walk  past  the  fellow  to  my  room,  and  let  him  see 
that  I  will  not  see  him/  O'Connell  walked  towards  the  garden 
gate,  but  whether  the  words  of  the  Liberator  were  repeated  by  the 
turnkey,  who  stood  midway  between  the  principal  parties  and  could 
have  heard  them,  or  the  peculiar  gait  of  the  governor  told  what 
passed,  the  noble  Lord  sneaked  off  by  the  outer  gate,  and  had  got 
on  the  public  road  before  O'Connell  reached  the  iron  gate  that  led 
to  MuUaghmast." 

Addresses  were  sent  to  O'Connell  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  even  from  the  Catholic  clergy  of  Wiirtemburg.  who 
spoke  touchingly  of  the  benefits  which  the  Irish  mission- 
aries of  the  seventh  century  had  conferred  on  their  nation. 

The  following  address  from  English  Catholics  must  have 

been  specially  gratifying  to  O'Connell.     It  is  signed  by 

6ome  of  the  best  as  well  as  the  noblest  of  the  Catholics  of 

that  country.    It  concluded  thus  : — 

"  Your  whole  life,  sir,  has  been  spent  in  the  cause  of  your  country, 
and  the  advancement  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  ;  and  we,  who  have 
benefited  by  the  exertions  of  that  life,  now  conclude  our  address 
in  terms  of  gratitude  for  the  past,  and  of  hope  for  the  future — of 
hope  that  the  day  of  your  renewed  exertion  in  the  cause  of  your 
Unfortunate  country  is  destined  again  to  arrive,  and  though  now 
red  from  the  presence  of  your  countrymen,  that  you  may  have 
the  uninterrupted  consolation  of  knowing  that  your  precepts  of 
Order  and  peace  are  scrupulously  attended  to. 

(Signed) 


Shrewsbury,  Robert  Berkeley,  jun., 

Camoys,  of    Spetchley  Park, 

Stourton,  Worcester, 

Dormer,  Edward  Clavering, 

Stafford,  Joseph  Weld,  Lulworth 

Newburgh,  Castle, 


732 


HIS  FRTENDS  NOT  IDLE. 


Charles  Stourton, 
Charles  T.  Clifford, 
Edward  M.  Vavasour,  of 


Joseph  T.  Tempest, 

Richard  Huddlestons, 

Edward  Huddlestone, 

Joseph  AVood, 

S.  T.  Scroope, 

R.    Baillie,    of  Tad 


Hazelwood, 
William  Wareing, 
Thomas  Browne,  Bishop 


of  Appollonia,  V.A., 


CclStGr, 
J.  CoLTANACH,  LL.D,, 

J.  Drysdale,  York, 
Richard  Boylis, 
J.  Bird, 

F.  Jarrett, 

G.  Speakman, 
Thomas  Ord, 
James  Smith." 


"Wales, 
William  Ridell, 
Pyers  Mostyn, 
Charles  R.  Tempest, 
Mar.  C.  Maxwell, 
John  F.  Vaughan, 
P.  Constable  Maxwell, 


Mayor  of  Richmond, 


The  Mayors  of  Cork,  Limerick,  Waterford,  Kilkenny, 
and  Clonmel,  attended  by  numbers  of  the  aldermen  and 
town-councillors  of  each  place,  waited  on  O'Connell  to 
present  him  addresses  at  the  prison,  but  they  were  refused 
admittance.  In  the  meantime  the  Liberator's  friends  were 
not  idle.  An  appeal  for  reverse  of  judgment  had  been 
made  to  the  House  of  Lords.  The  Lords  required  the  opinion 
of  the  twelve  judges.  The  twelve  judges  said,  in  point 
of  fact,  that  the  indictment  was  illegal,  but  the  finding  was 
right.  The  whole  affair  was  a  curious  evidence  of  how 
prejudice  warps  judgment.  The  matter  was  eventually 
decided  by  the  five  law  lords.  Lyndhurst  was  a  personal 
enemy  of  O'Connell's.  Brougham  always  followed  Lynd- 
hurst; it  was  said,  indeed,  that  if  Lyndhurst  had  turned 
a  somersault  upon  the  woolsack,  Brougham  would  have 


THE  JUDGMENT  REVERSED. 


733 


flung  his  heels  in  the  air  incontinently.  Three  of  the  fiv8 
lords  were  for  reversal  of  the  judgment,  and  so  it  was 
reversed.  Lord  Denman  when  giving  judgment  said, 
u  That  if  such  practices,  as  had  taken  place  in  the  present 
instance  in  Ireland,  should  continue,  the  trial  by  jury  would 
become  a  mockery,  a  delusion,  and  a  snare." 

O'Counell  and  his  friends  were  at  last  free.  On  the  even- 
in-  of  Thursday  the  5th  of  September  1844,  thousands  were 
assembled  on  and  about  the  pier  at  Kingstown,  watching 
anxiously  for  the  arrival  of  the  Medusa,  which  was  expected 
to  hear  the  news  either  of  release  or  prolonged  incarcera- 
tion. The  solicitors  of  the  traversers,  Messrs  Mallony, 
Forde,  and  Cantwell,  were  on  board.  They  had  prepared 
Bags,  with  the  words,  "  Triumph  of  law  and  justice— the 
judgment  reversed— O'Connell  is  free."  They  were 
accompanied  by  Mr  O'Hagan,  the  present  Lord  Chan- 
cellor of  Ireland,  who  had  been  one  of  the  counsel  for  the 
traversers.  A  scene  of  tumultuous  joy  followed.  There  were 
cheers  and  shouts  of  «  Free,"  «  Free."  Even  the  engine- 
driver  of  the  train  which  brought  the  party  to  Dublin 
requested  the  flag  to  ornament  his  engine,  and  to  render  it 
a  means  of  conveying  the  intelligence  to  the  picturesque 
villages  which  lie  along  the  sea-girt  road.  The  new* 
was  "received  at  the  prison  with  feelings  which  will  not 
bear  description.  When  order  was  restored  the  party 
sat  down  to  dinner;  but  they  were  scarcely  seated,  when 
the  governor  of  the  prison,  Mr  Pardon,  hurried  into  the 


734 


FINISHES  A  NOV  EN  A. 


room,  exclaiming,  "  Good  God !  can  it  be  true  ?  99 — hia 
emotion  almost  depriving  him  of  the  power  of  congratulat- 
ing O'Connell,  as  he  intended. 

The  gentlemen  returned  to  their  homes  that  evening, 
but  before  they  left  the  prison  they  were  obliged  to  write 
thousands  of  autographs  for  their  friends.  It  was,  how- 
ever, determined  that  a  triumphal  procession  should  be 
made  from  Richmond  prison  to  O'Connell's  house,  for  the 
double  purpose  of  testifying  the  national  joy  at  his  re- 
lease, and  the  national  indignation  at  his  incarceration. 
The  following  day,  Saturday  the  7th  of  September,  was 
selected  for  this  purpose.  At  an  early  hour  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  thousands  were  looking  for  O'Connell  in  order 
to  escort  him  to  the  prison,  preparatory  to  his  triumphal 
procession  from  it,  he  was  found  to  have  gone  to  Rich- 
mond at  a  very  early  hour  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  mass 
there,  and  concluding  a  No  vena  in  which  all  the  Catholic 
prisoners  had  joined.  The  eighth  of  September  being  the 
Feast  of  the  Nativity  of  our  Lady,  the  nine  previous  days 
were  devoted  to  special  exercises  of  prayer,  and  other  re- 
ligious duties,  to  obtain,  through  her  intercession  with 
the  King  of  kings,  the  favour  of  a  release  from  in- 
carceration. 

O'Connell  did  not  forget  others  in  his  own  joy,  for  he 
paid  their  fines  for  all  the  prisoners  who  had  been  pre- 
viously of  good  character,  so  that  they  might  be  released 
with  him.      The  morning  had  been  extremely  wet,  but 


OVATION  0.V  HIS  RELEASE. 


735 


about  eleven  o'clock  the  sun  shone  forth.  All  through  the 
long  route  from  O'Connell's  house  in  Merrion  Square  to 
the  prison,  thousands  had  assembled  and  kept  perfect 
order.  At  twelve,  the  first  part  of  the  procession  reached 
the  penitentiary,  but  it  was  two  o'clock  before  the  triumphal 
car  readied  the  prison.  Such  a  scene  was  never  witnessed 
in  Dublin.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  George  IV.  went 
through  the  same  parts  of  the  city,  surrounded  by  thousands 
who  still  had  faith  in  English  promises,  but  his  procession, 
grand  and  attractive  as  it  was,  fades  into  comparative  ob- 
scurity when  compared  with  that  of  the  uncrowned 
monarch  of  Ireland.  The  trades  were  there  with  their 
hands  and  banners.  The  Temperance  Society  was  there, 
headed  by  that  great  and  good  man  the  Very  Rev.  D. 
Spratt,  whose  memory  is  held  in  eternal  benediction.  So 
id  any  equipages  were  required  that  some  had  been  procured 
from  distant  parts  of  the  country.  The  Lord  Mayor  and 
others  were  there  in  their  robes,  with  many  distinguished 
men,  friends  and  admirers  of  O'Connell.  The  city 
marshal,  Tom  Reynolds,  kept  order,  or  to  speak  more  cor- 
rectly, directed  the  procession,  for  the  people  kept  order 
themselves.  There  was  not  a  single  policeman  seen  or 
needed  in  all  that  vast  multitude. 

O'Connell  was  conducted  from  the  jail  by  Mr  Smith 
O'Brien,  and  was  received  with  a  mar  of  welcome,  which 
lasted  several  minutes.  He  ascended  the  car,  an  imposing 
structure  magnificently  decorated.    His  son  John  follow. >d 


736  "THE  SHADOW  FEARED  OF  MAN." 


him,  and  then  his  chaplain  the  Bev.  Dr  Miley.  Dr  Gray 
and  his  wife  occupied  the  next  carriage ;  Barrett,  Gavan 
Duffy,  and  Ray  followed,  and  then  honest  Tom  Steele  ;  the 
attorneys  had  the  next  carriage,  and  bore  the  monster  in- 
dictment. As  O'Connell  passed  the  old  Parliament  House 
in  College  Square,  his  car  was  stopped.  He  rose  up  and 
pointed  significantly  to  the  building  again  and  again.  He 
had  been  put  in  jail  for  demanding  a  parliament  for 
Ireland ;  he  showed  by  his  action  that  he  intended  to 
continue  committing  the  offence  for  which  he  had  so  re- 
cently suffered ;  and,  to-day,  an  old  English  statesman, 
who  has  never  been  accused  of  any  partiality  to  Ireland, 
snirsrests  that  same  thing  in  a  modified  form. 

When  O'Connell  reached  his  house  in  Merrion  Square, 
he  addressed  the  people.  He  vindicated  himself  from  hav- 
ing made  any  legal  error,  as  the  reversal  of  the  judgment 
proved  that  he  had  not  transgressed  the  law;  and  he  told 
the  people  that  "  he  was  still  strong  enough  in  law  and  in 
fact"  for  his  work.  The  rejoicings  throughout  the  country 
were  on  a  gigantic  scale,  and  in  two  days  after  his  release, 
an  immense  meeting  was  held  in  Conciliation  Hall. 

But  the  dark  shadow  of  the  angel  of  death  was  even 
then  looming  dimly,  but  none  the  less  really,  over  Ireland 
and  O'Connell.  The  first  troubles  of  his  old  age  arose 
from  the  impetuous  ardour  of  the  men  who  came  to  be 
known  later  as  the  "  Young  Irelanders."  John  Mitchel, 
a  man  whose  political  honesty  has  never  been  questioned 


JO  EN  M1TCHEL  ON  0' CON  NELL. 


for  one  second,  even  amidst  all  the  turbulence  of  American 
politics,  and  whose  personal  integrity  is  best  known  to  his 
private  friends,  writes  thus  grimly  at  the  close  of  his  own 
work  on  Irish  history  : — 

"  The  state  trials  were  at  an  end  j  and  all  the  country,  friends 
and  enemies,  Ireland  and  England,  were  now  looking  eagerly  and 
earnestly  for  O'Connell's  first  movement,  as  an  indication  of  his 
future  course.  Never  at  any  moment  in  his  life  did  he  hold  the 
people  so  wholly  in  his  hand.  Daring  the  imprisonment,  both 
clergy  and  Repeal  wardens  had  laboured  diligently  in  extending  and 
confirming  the  organisation  ;  and  the  poor  people  proved  their  faith 
and  trust  by  sending  greater  and  greater  contributions  to  the  Repeal 
treasury.  They  kept  the  '  peace '  as  their  Liberator  bade  them ;  and 
the  land  was  never  so  free  from  crime — lest  they  should  give  strength 
to  the  enemy. 

M  It  is  impossible  to  record,  without  profound  admiration,  the 
steady  faith,  patient  zeal,  self-denial,  and  disciplined  enthusiasm, 
wh ich  the  Irish  people  displayed  for  these  two  years.  To  many 
thousands  of  those  peasants  the  struggle  had  been  more  severe  than 
any  war ;  for  they  were  expected  to  set  at  nought  potent  landlords, 
who  had  over  them  and  their  children  power  of  life  and  death — 
with  troops  of  insolent  bailiffs,  and  ejecting  attorneys,  and  the  omni- 
present police  ;  and  they  did  set  them  at  nought.  Every  vote  they 
give  at  an  election  might  cost  them  house  and  home,  land  and  life. 
They  were  naturally  ardent,  impulsive,  and  impatient;  but  their 
attitude  was  now  calm  and  steadfast.  They  were  an  essentially 
military  people;  but  the  great  'Liberator'  told  them  that  'no 
political  amelioration  was  worth  one  drop  of  human  blood.' 

"  They  did  not  believe  the  formula,  and  in  assenting  to  it  often 
winked  their  eyes ;  yet  steadily  and  trustfully  this  one  good  time, 
they  sought  to  liberate  their  country  peacefully,  legally,  under  the 
advice  of  counsel.  They  loyally  obeyed  that  man,  and  would  obey 
no  other     And  when  he  walked  in  triumph  out  of  his  prison,  at 

3  A 


738 


THE  YOUNG  IRELANDERS. 


one  word  from  his  mouth  they  would  have  marched  upon  Dublin 
.from  all  the  five  ends  of  Ireland,  and  made  short  work  with  police 
and  military  barracks. 

"  But  O'Connell  was  now  old,  approaching  seventy ;  and  the  fatal 
disease  of  which  he  was  then  really  dying,  bad  eagerly  begun  to 
work  upon  his  iron  energies.  After  his  release  he  did  not  propose 
to  hold  the  Clontarf  meeting,  as  many  hoped.  He  said  nothing 
more  about  the  1  Council  of  Three  Hundred/  which  the  extreme 
section  of  nationalists  were  very  desirous  to  see  carried  into  effect  • 
and  the  more  desirous  because  it  would  be  illegal,  according  to  what 
passes  for  law  in  Ireland.  Yet  the  Association  all  this  time  was 
becoming  more  powerful  for  good  than  ever.  O'Brien  had  instituted 
a  1  Parliamentary  Committee,'  and  worked  on  it  continually  himself ; 
which,  at  all  events,  furnished  the  nation  with  careful  and  authentic 
memoirs  on  all  Irish  questions  and  interests,  filled  with  accurate 
statistical  details.  Many  Protestant  gentlemen,  also,  of  high  rank 
joined  the  Association  in  1844  and  1845 — being  evidently  uncon- 
scious how  certainly  and  speedily  that  body  was  going  to  destruc- 
tion. 

"  In  short,  the  history  of  Ireland  must  henceforth  be  sought  foi 
elsewhere  than  in  the  Repeal  Association." 

Davis,  who  had  set  the  Irish  on  fire  by  his  poetry; 
Mangan,  who  helped  him  ;  other  men,  now  settled  down 
into  sober  citizens,  and  some  of  them  in  high  places — Gavan 
Duffy,  in  the  Nation,  and  John  Mitch  el,  who  never  minced 
words — all  these,  and  many  more,  were  eager  for  something 
mere  than  words.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  horrors  of 
civil  war  or  rebellion,  successful  or  otherwise,  except  by 
tradition.  The  race  of  men  were  gone,  or  fast  going,  that 
suffered  themselves,  or  rather  had  seen  the  death  throes 
of  others,  as  they  expired  in  the  horrible  agonies  of  torture, 


TRIALS. 


739 


or  left  their  life-blood  on  green  Erin's  fields.  These  young 
men,  brave,  chivalrous,  loving  their  country  to  a  fault, 
because  it  is  always  a  fault  to  plunge  recklessly  into  war, 
were  aweary  of  0' Council's  peaceful  agitation,  and  would 
fight  with  his  leave,  if  they  could  get  it,  if  not,  without. 
Borne  of  these  men  did  attempt  to  fight  later  on,  and  we  all 
know  how  it  ended. 

If  O'Connell  had  been  twenty  years  younger  when  he 
was  released  from  Richmond  Bridewell,  he  might  have 
obtained  Repeal  by  some  ten  years'  continuous  agitation  ; 
as  it  was,  he  probably  knew  better  than  any  man  else  that 
his  days  were  numbered.  His  position  was  indeed  a  painful 
one  ;  he  had  no  choice  but  to  continue  agitating  to  a  certain 
degree,  or  to  give  up  agitation  altogether,  and  to  retire 
from  public  life. 

A  Mr  Porter  came  forward  now  with  a  plan  for  raising 
a  national  militia;  and  then,  when  he  did  not  meet  with 
much  attention,  he  went  to  Conciliation  Hall,  looked  over 
the  books,  and  tried  to  cast  obloquy  on  O'Conneli's 
management  of  pecuniary  matters.  O'Connell  in  vain  im- 
plored "the  charity  of  Irishmen,"  until  he  worked  out  his 
plan  of  federation.  He  said  to  Mr  O'Xeill  Daunt  one 
day,  "  I  am  quite  well,  that  is  to  say,  I  am  as  well  as  a 
man  can  be  wh)  is  opposed  by  one-half  his  friends,  and 
who  is  deserted  by  the  other  half."  The  English  comic 
papers  attacked  him  also  at  the  same  time ;  and  he  was 
sorely  tried  by  a  brief  which  came  from  Rome,  and 


7*0  THE  IRISH  AND  THE  HOX  Y  SEE. 


which,  though  it  did  not  actually  forhid  the  clergy  to  join 
in  the  Repeal  agitation,  at  least  obliged  them  to  refrain,  to 
a  certain  degree,  from  public  expressions  of  opinion. 

The  rescript  was  believed  to  have  been  procured  by  the 
English  Government  through  an  English  Catholic.  It 
was  sorely  felt  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Ire- 
land ;  yet  the  Irish,  like  the  Jesuits,  have  submitted,  always 
most  faithfully  and  scrupulously,  to  enactments  which  they 
believed  to  be  procured  by  enemies  of  their  own  faith  from 
the  basest  motives.  The  prudence  and  wisdom  of  the 
Holy  See  was  pre-eminently  shown  in  the  moderate  tone  of 
the  brief;  but,  while  the  people  of  Ireland  believed  that 
there  had  been  English  interference,  they  could  not  but 
feel  it  deeply.  Their  fidelity  to  the  Holy  See  had  never 
wavered ;  they  had  poured  out  their  life's  blood  again  and 
again  for  the  true  faith ;  they  had  supported  and  propa- 
gated their  religion  as  no  other  people  on  earth  have  ever 
done,  and  they  looked  for  sympathy  rather  than  repression. 
They  were  jealous,  and  not  for  the  first  time,  because  it 
seemed  to  them  that  England  was  preferred,  notwithstand- 
ing her  apostasy,  because  she  was  prosperous  and  wealthy, 
that  Ireland  was  slighted  because  she  was  poor  and  of  no 
political  esteem.  Yet  this  most  faithful  people  submitted, 
as  they  have  ever  done,  to  the  chair  of  Peter. 

The  truth  was,  that  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  in  mortal  terror 
of  an  Irish  insurrection.  He  said  so  plainly.  It  was  the 
same  old  story.    It  mattered  little  to  him  how  the  country 


A  CLOUD  ON  TEE   WESTERN  HORIZON.  741 


Was  made  to  suffer  in  silence ;  if  silence  could  be  procured 
and  compelled,  that  was  enough. 

"  There  rises  in  the  far  western  horizon  a  cloud  [Oregon],  small, 
indeed,  but  threatening  future  storms.  It  became  my  duty,  on 
the  part  of  the  Government,  on  that  day,  in  temperate  but  signifi- 
cant language,  to  depart  so  far  from  the  caution  which  is  usually 
observed  by  a  Minister,  as  to  declare  publicly,  that,  while  we  were 
most    anxious  for    the   amicable  adjustment  of  the  differences 

 while  we  would  leave  nothing  undone  to  effect  that  amicable 

adjustment — yet,  if  our  rights  were  invaded,  we  were  prepared  and 
determined  to  maintain  them.  I  own  to  you,  that  when  I  was  called 
upon  to  make  that  declaration,  I  did  recollect  with  satisfaction  and 
consolation,  that  the  day  before  I  had  sent  a  message  of  peace  to 
Ireland. "Speech  in  Parliament  on  the  2d  April  1844. 

It  was  no  doubt  very  satisfactory  to  Sir  Robert  Peel,  but 
it  would  have  been  a  good  deal  more  satisfactory  to  the 
people  of  Ireland,  if  "  messages  of  peace  "  were  not  always 
sent  whenever  England  is  apprehensive  of  war. 

The  Landlord  and  Tenant  Commission,  better  known  as 
the  Devon  Commission,  was  set  to  work.  It  might  have 
done  some  good,  had  it  not  been  entirely  managed  by 
landlords  ;  the  tenants,  the  principal  parties  concerned, 
were  left  out. 

The  following  letters  conclude  the  series  written  to  Dr 
MacHale : — 

(Strictly  Confidential.) 

"  Merrion  Square,  19th  Feb.  I8i5. 
«Mt  retered  Low>,-I  am  exceedingly  atoned  at  the  coming 
pr„sp,ct.    I  am  t.uly  afraid  that  the  Ministerial  plans  are  abont  to 
throw  more  power  into  the  hands  of  the  supporter,  of  *  Beepa-sts 


742 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MAC  HALE. 


Bill.  A  fatal  liberalism  is  but  too  prevalent,  and  these  pseudo- 
liberals  are  exceedingly  anxious  to  have  an  opportunity  of  assailing 
the  party  of  the  sincere  and  practical  Catholics  as  being  supporters 
of  narrow  and  bigoted  doctrines.  I  should  not  take  the  liberty  of 
troubling  your  Grace  with  a  letter,  if  I  were  not  deeply  alarmed 
lest  the  friends  of  truly  Catholic  education  should  be  out-manoeuvred 
by  their  enemies.  What  those  enemies  most  desire  is,  that  a  prema- 
ture movement  should  be  made  on  our  part.  They  say — and  I  fear  the 
public  would,  and  perhaps  ought  to,  go  with  them — that  to  attack 
Peel's  plan  before  that  plan  was  announced  and  developed,  would  be 
to  show  a  disposition  inimical  to  education,  and  a  determination 
not  to  be  satisfied  with  any  concession.  I  do  not  wish  to  give  our 
enemies  any  pretext  for  avoiding  the  real  question  that  may,  and 
perhaps  must,  arise  by  any  by-battle  as  to  the  time  of  commencing 
our  attack — that  is  to  say,  if  Ave  shall  find  it  necessary  to  attack  at 
all.  I  say  this,  because  however  strongly  I  believe  that  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  attack,  yet  that  occasion  cannot  arise  legitimately 
until  the  plan  is  known  in  all  its  details.  It  is  possible,  though  not 
very  probable,  that  the  appointment  of  professors  to  instruct  the 
Catholic  youth  may  be  given  to  the  Catholic  prelates  ;  and  in  that 
case,  though  the  principle  of  exclusive  Catholic  education  may  not 
apply,  yet  I  should  think  there  could  be  no  objection  to  Protestants 
attending  the  classes,  if  all  the  professors  were  nominated  by  the 
canonical  authorities  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

"  Besides,  by  waiting  until  the  plan  is  out,  and  known  in  ita 
details,  we  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  attacking  its  defects  with- 
out leaving  any  room  for  a  charge  of  hostility  to  education  generally. 
I  do,  therefore,  most  respectfully  and  with  perfect  humility  suggest 
to  your  Grace,  whether  it  be  not  the  wisest  course  not  to  make  any 
attack  upon  academical  institutions  until  we  know  what  those  in- 
stitutions are  to  be.  I  need  not  inform  your  Grace  that  my  own 
opinion  is  decidedly  favourable  to  the  education  of  Catholics  being 
exclusively  committed  to  Catholic  authority. 

"  I  hope  and  trust  your  Grace  will  have  the  goodness  to  excuse 
this  intrusion  upon  you.    What  1  am  anxious  about  is  to  prevent 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MACE  ALE. 


743 


our  antagonists  from  having  any  advantage  as  to  the  period  of  tha 
discussion,  or  to  any  collateral  circumstance  extrinsic  of  the  real 
merits. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  revered  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  most 
faithful  servant,  Daniel  O'Connell, 

■  The  Archbishop  of  Tuarn." 

(Private.) 

"  London,  21  st  June  18  45. 

"  My  ever-revered  Lord. — My  heart  is  heaving  and  my  fears 
are  great,  least  seduction  should  accomplish  what  force  and  fraud 
have  failed  to  achieve.  But  my  confidence  is  unshaken  in  the  wis- 
dom and  virtue  of  our  prelates.  Why,  then,  do  I  write  ?  Because  I 
wish  to  disburthen  myself  of  two  facts.  The  first,  that  Sir  Francis 
Graham's  amendments  make  the  bill  worse,  simply  by  increasing  and 
extending  the  power  and  dominion  of  the  Government,  or  of  per- 
sons appointed  by  and  also  removable  at  will  by  that  Government, 
over  a  wider  space,  and  over  more  important  and  more  delicate 
matters,  including  perhaps  all  religious  details.  The  second  fact 
is,  that  if  the  prelates  take  and  continue  in  a  high,  firm,  and  unani- 
mous tone,  the  Ministry  will  yield.  Believe  me  that  they  are  ready 
to  yield.  You  have  everything  in  your  own  power.  By  your,  of 
course,  I  mean  the  prelates,  or  the  majority  of  them. 

"  You  will  have  from  the  Ministry  abundance  of  words,  sweet 
words  and  solemn  promises.  If  however,  then,  by  just  caution  on 
the  part  of  the  prelates,  they  can  dictate  their  own  terms,  the 
danger  is  that  the  prelates,  judging  of  others  by  themselves,  will 
disbelieve  in  designed  deceit,  and  so  yield  to  empty  promises,  that 
which  could  ensure,  if  withheld  for  a  while,  substantial  performance. 

"  My  object  is  that  your  Grace  should  know  to  a  certainty  that  the 
game  is  in  our  hands  if  the  prelates  stand  firm— as  I  most  respectfully 
believe  they  will— to  all  the  Church  sanctions  relative  to  Catholic 
education. 

«  I  mark  this  letter  'private/  merely  because  I  do  rot  wish  M 


744  LETTERS  TO  DR  MACE  ALE. 


have  it  appear  in  the  newspapers.    If  the  facts  I  mention  are  of 

use,  yon  can  nse  them. 

"  Pray  pardon  my  intrusion. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  the  most  profound  venera- 
tion, my  revered  Lord,  of  your  Grace  the  most  devoted  humble 
servant,  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  The  Most  Rev.  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam/' 

"Darrynane  Abbey,  12th  August  1845. 

"  My  revered  and  loved  Lord, — Many  and  many  hearty  thanka 
for  your  kind  letter  and  the  suggestions  it  contains.  I  am  preparing 
my  answer  to  the  Most  Rev.  Dr  Murray.  It  ought  to  be  considerate 
and  most  courteous,  without  betraying  any  w7ant  of  proper  firmness. 
I  do  not  know  whether  I  shall  succeed  in  writing  such  a  letter,  and 
I  anxiously  hope  that,  at  all  events,  you  will  not  be  displeased  with 
what  I  shall  write.  It  would  be  to  me  a  cruel  punishment  to  merit 
your  disapprobation. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  veneration  and  esteem, 
revered  Lord,  your  most  respectful  attached  servant, 

"  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  Most  Rev.  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

"Killarney,  7th  October  1845. 
"My  revered  Lord, — I  had  the  honour  to  receive  an  invitation 
from  your  Grace  for  Saturday,  and  have  the  greatest  pleasure  in 
accepting.  I  will,  I  trust,  wait  on  your  Grace  by  four  in  the  after 
noon  of  Saturday.  It  will,  I  know,  be  necessary  to  leave  Tuam  very 
early  on  Sunday.  I  can  offer  your  Grace  two  seats  in  my  carriage 
to  Castlebar. 

"We  have  had  a  glorious  meeting  here.  Meeting  and  banquet 
were  gloriously  and  most  usefully  carried  out. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  of  your  Grace 
the  most  faithful,  humble  servant,  DANIEL  O'CONNELL. 

"  The  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 


LETTERS  TO  BR  MACE  ALE. 


745 


"  British  Hotel,  Jermyn  Street,  London, 
Friday,  27th  February  1846. 
"My  revered  Lord, — I  have  only  time  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  Grace's  letter,  and  to  enclose  you  a  cheque  for  £250.4 
Any  one  you  give  it  to  will  get  money  for  it  at  the  Tuam  Bank. 
Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  answer  this  letter,  acknowledging  receipt 
with  its  contents,  without  further  specification. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  of  your  Grace 
the  most  faithful  servant,  Daniel  OConsell. 

"  To  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  Ireland." 

"  30  Merrion  Square,  Dublin,  15th  April  184(5. 

"  My  EVER-REVERED  Lord, — Excuse  me  forgiving  you  the  trouble 
of  procuring  the  enclosed  ,£50  to  be  distributed  among  the  wretched 
tenants  of  Ballynglass. 

"  I  received  the  money  in  London  in  an  anonymous  letter,  writ- 
ten to  me  to  be  applied  to  those  evicted  tenants — I  mean  the  Bal- 
lynglass tenants,  207  in  number;  a  very  small  sum  for  each;  but 
my  mission  will  be  fulfilled  when  I  procure  the  distribution. 

"  I  know  not  how  to  do  so,  unless  your  Grace  assist  me.  It 
strikes  me  that  your  secretary  can  easily  discover  the  parish  priest, 
and  procure  him  to  take  charge  of  the  distribution. 

"  In  respect  to  the  Mayo  election,  nothing  can  be  more  satisfac- 
tory than  your  Grace's  letter;  nothing  but  the  strictest  economy 
could  keep  down  the  expenses  to  the  sum  which  your  Grace  men- 
tions. It  was  indeed  a  great  triumph,  at  very  little  comparative 
cost.  It  was  a  bold  undertaking,  and  would  have  been  fatal  if 
unsuccessful.  Your  Grace's  energy,  and  all-commanding  influence, 
aided  by  the  patriotic  clergy,  have  achieved  the  most  valuable 
triumph  for  Ireland  since  the  Clare  election. 

*'  There  will  be  some  little  delay  in  the  payment  of  the  balance  ; 
but  it  will  be  as  short  as  possible. 


*  Mr  O'Connell— ^250  Election  Fund. 


746 


LETTERS  TO  DR  MAC  HALE. 


"  As  your  Grace  is  coming  to  town  in  a  week,  I  will  leave  with 
my  daughter,  Mrs  Ffrench,  a  cheque  for  \our  Grace  for  £128.  It 
will  be  in  a  sealed  letter,  and  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  of  sending 
to  P.  V.  Fitzpatrick  to  procure  for  you  a  letter  left  by  me  with 
Mrs  Ffrench,  he  will  take  care  to  hand  your  Grace  the  letter  ;  but, 
as  it  is  no  affair  of  his,  he  need  not  know  anything  more  about  it 
than  merely  getting  the  letter  and  handing  it  to  your  Lordship. 

'*  With  respect  to  the  balance,  you  may  rely  upon  its  being  paid 
in  three  weeks.    I  hope  the  short  delay  will  not  prove  inconvenient. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  my  revered  Lord, 
of  your  Grace  the  most  faithful  servant,      Daniel  OConnell. 

"  The  Most  Ptev.  the  Archbishop  of  Tuani  * 

"  Meuuion  Square,  24th  December  1846. 

"  My  EVER-reverkd  Lord, — I  have  not  as  yet  had  any  reply 
from  Mr  Redington.  I  write,  however,  to  say,  that  as  far  as  my 
opinion  goes,  I  should  much  approve  of  the  idea  your  Grace  haa 
thrown  out,  of  writing  yourself  to  that-  gentleman.  It  would  be 
the  mode  most  likely  to  contribute  to  success. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  veneration,  of  your 
Grace  the  devoted  servant,  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  The  Lord  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 

"Merrion  Square,  Dublin,  26th  December  1846. 

"  My  revered  Lord, — I  have  this  moment  received  the  enclosed 
private  note  from  the  Lord-Lieutenant.  I  know  that  no  secrecy  is 
violated  in  allowing  you  to  read  it  ;  besides,  I  wisli  that  you  should 
have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  how  promptly  his  Excellency  haa 
taken  up  your  complaint.  I  have  but  one  moment  to  write,  and, 
therefore,  only  request  of  your  Grace  to  return  me  the  enclosed  aa 
soon  as  you  have  read  it. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  profound  respect,  of  your  Grace 
the  devoted  servant,  Daniel  O'Connell. 

"  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam." 


THE  FAMINE  OF  1845.  747 


Davis  died  in  1845,  and  O'Connell  mourned  for  hU 
deeply,  though  they  had  been  so  opposed.  In  writing  of 
this  event,  he  seemed  to  anticipate  his  own  speedy  end,  and 
even  then,  though  he  knew  it  not,  the  softening  of  the  brain, 
of  which  he  died,  had  already  commenced.5 

In  September  1845,  O'Connell  visited  Cashel,  where  he 
received  an  extraordinary  ovation,  at  which  it  was  estimated 
a  hundred  thousand  persons  assisted.  Fifteen  thousand 
men  were  mustered  in  one  place  alone,  on  horseback. 

The  fr.mine  blight  fell  on  Ireland  at  the  close  of  this 
year.  O'Connell  at  once  saw  what  should  be  done,  not, 
indeed,  to  avert  the  calamity,  it  could  not  be  averted,  but 
to  meet  it.  At  the  very  moment  when  the  Irish  were 
starving  by  thousands,  Irish  grain  was  being  imported  to 
England.  Plans  were  made  and  unmade,  suggestions  were 
made  and  objected  to.  As  O'Connell  said,  and  said 
truly — 

"So  we  have  got  scientific  men  from  England !  It  appears  that 
they  would  not  answer  unless  they  came  from  England  !— just  as  if 
we  bad  not  men  of  science  in  abundance  in  Ireland,  ay,  of  a  higher 
order  and  more  fitted  for  the  duties  than  any  Saxon  they  could  send 
over.  There  must  be  something  English  mixed  up  in  the  thing  ; 
even  in  an  inquiry,  involving  perhaps  the  life  and  death  of  millions, 
anti-national  prejudices  must  be  indulged  in  and  the  mixing-stick 
of  English  rule  introduced. .  Well,  they  have  given  us  two  reports 
— these  scientific  men  have  ;  and  what  is  the  value  of  them  1  Of 


■  "  I,  of  course,"  he  wrote,  "  in  the  few  years,  if  years  they  be,  still 
left  to  me,  cannot  expect  to  look  upon  his  like  again,  or  to  see  the  place 
he  has  left  vacant  adequately  filled  up." 


748 


ATTACK  OF  THE  "TIMES. 


what  practical  use  will  they  be  to  the  people  ?  I  read  them  ovef 
and  over  again  in  the  hope  of  finding  something  suggestive  of  a 
remedy,  and,  so  help  me  Heaven  ! — I  don't  mean  to  swear — if  I 
could  find  anything  in  the  reports  by  these  scientific  men,  unless  that 
they  knew  not  what  to  say  !  They  suggest  a  thing,  and  then  show 
a  difficulty  ;  again,  a  suggestion  is  made  which,  comes  invested  with 
another  difficulty;  and  then  they  are  '  yonr  very  humble  servants  !' 
Oh  !  my  Lord  Mayor,  one  single  peck  of  oats — one  bushel  of  wheat 
—  ay,  one  boiled  potato — would  be  better  than  all  their  reports." 

Terrible  and  horrible  as  the  details  of  that  famine  are, 
they  would  have  been  yet  more  terrible,  yet  more  horrible, 
but  for  the  generosity  and  the  good  common  sense  of  some 
few  private  individuals,  and,  above  all,  of  the  members  of 
the  Society  of  Friends.  While  Government  talked  about 
plans,  and  sent  out  commissions,  they  acted;  and  if  they 
could  not  stay  the  famine  plague,  they  alleviated  it  in  some 
little  measure.  The  Times'1  commissioner,  overlooking  the 
niter  destitution  of  other  parts  of  Ireland  which  ought  to 
have  been  prospering,  attacked  O'Connell  for  not  making 
his  tenants  prosperous.  Hatred  of  O'Connell,  and  the 
utter  incompetence  of  such  individuals  to  understand  the 
country,  however  much  they  may  u  interview"  the  people, 
proved  the  fertile  source  of  misrepresentation.  O'Connell 
had  done  much  for  his  ancestral  property;  to  say  that  he 
might  hove  done  more,  was  to  forget  that  his  public  occu- 
pations were  such  as  had  rarely  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any 
other  man.  Undoubtedly,  no  amount  of  public  occupation 
is  an  excuse  for  the  neglect  of  home  duties,  but  it  may  be 
[•leaded  as  an  extenuating  circumstance. 


SUGGESTION  OF  DUKE  OF  CAMBRIDGE.  749 


An  article  was  written  in  the  Nation  at  the  close  of  1845, 
which  was  also  the  cause  of  much  pain  to  the  aged  Libe- 
rator.  He  was  accused  of  heing  the  author  by  those  who 
were  probably  well  aware  that  he  had  never  written  a  line 
of  it,  or  seen  a  line  of  it,  until  it  was  given  to  the  public. 
For  this  article  Gavan  Duffy  was  tried  and  acquitted;  yet 
excited  by  the  wicked  and  cruel  suggestion  of  the  Duke  of 
Cambridge,  O'Connell  spoke  boldly  himself  at  the  Repeal 
Association,  in  his  last  speech  in  Ireland. 

"  '  Ireland,'  said  the  Duke,  '  is  not  in  so  bad  a  state  as  has  heen 
represented.  .  .  .  I  understand,' continued  his  Highness, 'that  rotten 
potatoes  and  sea-weed,  or  even  grass,  properly  mixed,  afford  a  very 
wholesome  and  nutritious  food.  We  all  know  that  Irishmen  can 
live  upon  anything,  and  there  is  plenty  of  grass  in  the  fields  even  if 
the  potato  crop  should  fail ! ' — 1  There,'  said  O'Connell,  '  is  the  son 
of  a  king  ! — the  brother  of  a  king  !  —the  uncle  of  a  monarch  ! — there 
is  his  description  of  Ireland  for  you  !  Oh,  why  does  he  think  thus 
of  the  Irish  people  %  Perhaps  he  has  been  reading  Spenser,  who 
wrote  at  a  time  when  Ireland  was  not  put  down  by  the  strong  arm 
of  force  or  defeated  in  battle — because  she  never  was  defeated — but 
when  the  plan  was  laid  down  to  starve  the  Irish  nation.  For  three 
years  every  portion  of  the  crop  was  trampled  down  by  the  hoofs  of 
the  horses  of  mounted  soldiery;  for  three  years  the  crops  were  de- 
stroyed, and  human  creatures  were  found  lying  behind  ditches,  with 
their  mouths  green  by  eating  sorrel  and  the  grass  of  the  field  !  The 
Duke  of  Cambridge,  I  suppose,  wishes  that  we  should  have  such 
scenes  again  enacted  in  this  country.  And  is  it  possible  that  in  the 
preseuce  of  some  of  the  most  illustrious  nobility  of  England,  that 
royal  personage  should  be  found  to  utter  horrors  of  this  description? 
I  will  go  over  to  England  to  see  what  they  intend  to  do  for  the 
Irish— whether  they  are  of  opinion  that  the  Irish  are  to  feed  on 


750 


grass  or  eat  mangel-wurzel.  If  that  should  be  attempted — and  may 
God  avert  the  possibility  of  the  occurrence — I  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  it  would  be  the  duty  of  every  man  to  die  with  arms  in  his 
hands.' " 

As  one  man  the  vast  assembly  rose  and  cheered  the 
suggestion  to  the  echo. 

O'Connell  looked  his  last  look  at  the  Irish  shore  on  the 
26tli  of  January  1846.  By  a  most  curious  coincidence  he 
was  accompanied  by  a  parish  priest  and  a  Protestant  clergy- 
man from  the  south  of  Ireland,  who  were  going  over  to- 
gether to  collect  or  rather  to  obtain  food  for  their  starving 
people.  These  two  devoted  men  worked  together  and  lived 
together  in  London  for  some  days,  and  by  their  united 
exertions  obtained  the  despatch  of  several  shiploads  of  food 
for  their  dying  parishioners.  The  priest  was  a  near  rela- 
tive of  the  Liberator,  but  the  circumstance  of  the  sailing  in 
the  same  ship  was  accidental.  It  was  indeed  a  fitting 
conclusion  to  O'Connell' s  noble  life,  to  his  life  spent  in 
promoting  peace,  in  trying  to  unite  the  Irish  people,  in 
trying  to  persuade  them  to  bury  their  religious  differences 
in  oblivion. 

In  all  his  sufferings  O'Connell  still  worked  for  Ireland; 
but  he  was  terribly  distressed  by  the  news  which  came  from 
his  unhappy  country.  Death  and  disease  were  doing  their 
awful  work,  and  mowing  down  thousands  and  thousands  of 
the  brave  and  true  men,  of  the  pure  and  good  women,  who 
had  loved  O'Connell  as  a  hero,  and  honoured  him  as  a 


THE  LAST  BLOW. 


75] 


gaint.  The  Young  Ireland  party  had  openly  separated  from 
O'Connell's  followers.  Mr  John  O'Connell  made  a  fruit- 
less effort  to  reconcile  these  differences,  nevertheless  Smitli 
O'Brien  and  his  party  marched  out  of  Conciliation  Hall,  and 
left  him  weeping  bitterly. 

The  last,  blow  which  crushed  O'Connell  was  the  rejection 
of  Lord  George  Bentinck's  bill  to  empower  Government  to 
lend  sixteen  millions  to  the  Irish  railway  companies.  This, 
would  at  once  have  given  employment  to  the  starving 
people,  and  would  have  paved  the  way  for  the  future  de- 
velopment of  the  industrial  resources  of  Ireland.  Two 
days  after  the  rejection  of  the  bill,  it  was  rumoured  that 
O'Connell  was  dead.  He  was  not  dead,  but  he  was  seriously 
ill,  and  what  was  still  more  painful,  he  was  terribly  de- 
jected. Probably,  the  oppression  on  his  brain,  which  had 
already  commenced,  added  its  share  to  the  other  causes 
which  bowed  down  the  giant  intellect,  and  depressed  the 
once  vigorous  and  hopeful  mind. 

It  was  proposed,  at  first,  that  O'Connell  should  return  to 
Ireland,  but  a  warmer  climate  was  suggested  by  his  phy- 
sicians, and  he  was  himself  most  anxious  to  take  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Rome,  probably  with  the  hope  of  ending  his  life  in 
the  sacred  city. 

"His  days,"  writes  an  intimate  friend,  "were  evidently  drawing 
to  a  close.  *  His  voice  was  broken,  hollow,  and  occasionally  quite  in- 
audible; his  person  was  debilitated;  the  vigour  of  his  eloquent 
was  gone,  and  his  appearance  was  that  of  one  who,  destined  soon  to 


752 


SOJQCUN  IN  ENGLAND. 


descend  into  the  grave,  makes  the  last  feeble  rally  of  Lis  fainting 
powers  in  performance  of  a  duty  to  his  country. 

"  His  indisposition  now  daily  increased.  If  his  mind  could  have 
been  soothed  by  the  attentions  of  the  great,  he  possessed  that  species 
of  consolation  ;  nobles  and  ministers  of  State  made  daily  inquiry  at 
his  hotel.  Nay,  even  royalty  once  or  twice  paid  him  a  similar  com- 
pliment. 

"  His  physicians  advised  him  to  try  a  milder  climate. 

"  Prior  to  quitting  England  for  the  Continent,  he  sojourned  for 
several  days  at  Hastings.  "While  he  stayed  there  he  was  visited  by 
three  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Oxford  converts.  Those 
gentlemen  stated  4  that  their  visit  was  not  made  for  the  mere  pur- 
pose of  compliment  or  condolence ;  but,  in  order  that  they  might 
have  the  pleasure  of  personally  assuring  him  that  the  religious 
change  which  they,  and  numerous  others,  had  made,  was  ascribable, 
under  God,  to  his  political  labours,  which  had  in  the  first  instance 
attracted  their  attention  to  the  momentous  questions  at  issue  be- 
tween Protestants  and  Catholics.  The  inquiry  that  originated  thus, 
ended  in  a  conviction  of  the  truth  of  Catholicity.'  He  was  pleased 
at  this  intelligence  ;  his  spirits  rallied,  and  he  conversed  with  his 
new  friends  for  nearly  an  hour  with  the  point  and  vivacity  that  had 
characterised  him  in  the  days  of  his  vigour/' 

On  Monday,  the  21st  of  March  1847,  O'Connell  took  a 
final  farewell  of  his  old  and  tried  friends ;  and  embarked 
for  Boulogne,  escorted  to  the  pier  by  gazing  crowds,  whose 
countenances  were  expressive  of  a  mixture  of  cariosity  and 
sympathy.  The  passage  to  Boulogne  was  short,  and  the 
distinguished  invalid  on  his  arrival  was  greeted  with  marks 
of  public  courtesy  similar  to  those  which  had  attended  hia 
departure  from  England.  When  he  arrived  at  the  Hotel 
de  Bains,  many  persons  left  their  cards;  and  a  polite  in* 


ENTERIXG   TEE  DARK  VALLEY. 


7/>3 


vitation  to  an  entertainment,  which  was  given  on  that 
evening  by  the  British  residents  in  Boulogne,  was  for- 
warded to  Mr  O'Connell  and  his  friends,  but  the  state  of 
the  Liberator's  health  rendered  his  acceptance  of  the  com- 
pliment impossible.  On  taking  his  departure  the  follow- 
ing morning,  the  court-yard  of  the  hotel  contained  many 
spectators,  both  French  and  English,  who  all  uncovered 
their  heads  as  he  passed  to  the  carriage.  There  was  some- 
thing very  touching  in  this  mute  homage. 

At  Paris  he  consulted  Professor  Chomel  and  Dr  Oliffe, 
who  considered  that  his  weakness  arose  from  slow  con- 
gestion of  the  brain.  From  Paris  to  Lyons,  the  journey 
occupied  twelve  days,  as  the  invalid  was  obliged  to  stop 
at  Nevers,  Moulines,  and  Lapalisse.  When  at  Lyons,  he 
called  in  Professor  Bonnet,  who  also  expressed  his  opinion 
that  congestion  of  the  brain  had  set  in.  Nevertheless,  the 
professor  pronounced  "  that  Ins  patient's  understanding  nas 
perfectly  clear;"  it  was,  however,  "little  active,  and  the 
mind  was  a  continual  prey  to  sad  reflections."  M.  Bon- 
net's description  of  0' Council's  appearance  and  condition 
at  this  period,  as  given  by  Dr  Lacour,  is  full  of  melancholy 
interest : — 

"  His  weakness  was  so  great,  that  he  believed  it  incom- 
patible with  life,  and  he  constantly  had  the  presentiment  of 
approaching  death.  The  arms  were  slow  in  their  move- 
ments ;  the  right  trembled  continually,  and  the  right  hand 

was  cold,  and  could  be  warmed  w^ith  difficulty,  although 

3  B 


754 


SYMPATHETIC  SORROWS. 


he  wore  very  thick  gloves.  The  left  foot  was  habitually 
colder  than  the  right.  He  walked  without  difficulty,  hut 
his  step  was  slow  and  faltering.  His  face  had  grown  thin, 
and  his  look  proclaimed  an  inexpressible  sadness  ;  the 
head  hung  upon  the  breast,  and  the  entire  person  of 
the  invalid,  formerly  so  imposing,  was  greatly  weighed 
down.  He  said  to  M.  Bonnet,  who  regarded  him  with 
visible,  emotion,  '  I  am  but  the  shadow  of  what  I  was,  and  I 
can  scarcely  recognise  myself.'  " 

M.  Bonnet  recommended  that  the  sorrowful  ideas  which 
pre-occupied  the  mind  of  the  invalid  should  be  removed  by 
every  possible  means — a  recommendation,  alas  !  more 
easily  given  than  realised. 

The  severity  of  the  weather  at  Lyons  confined  O'Connell 
to  the  house,  thereby  depriving  him  of  whatever  relief  might 
have  been  afforded  by  outdoor  exercise. 

During  the  journey  O'Connell  had  hitherto  evinced  great 
listlessness  and  mental  abstraction.  Crowds  followed  him 
everywhere,  testifying  their  reverence  for  his  genius  and 
his  services,  and  their  sympathetic  sorrow  for  his  sufferings 
He  passed  along,  heedless  of  their  demonstrations,  and 
scarcely  conscious  of  their  presence.  Distinguished  per* 
sonages  presented  complimentary  addresses,  which  at 
another  period  would  have  gratified  him ;  but  he  now 
received  them  with  apathy,  and  almost  in  total  silence; 
his  thoughts,  apparently,  far  away  from  all  such  topics— 
pre-occupied,  doubtless,  by  the  rapid  approach  of  his  own 


A   TRAZSIEXT  LIGHT-GLEAM. 


:5b 


dissolution.  To  a  gentleman  who  tried  to  cheer  him  by 
expressing  a  hope  of  his  recovery,  he  answered,  "  Do  not 
deceive  yourself ;  I  may  not  live  three  days." 

On  the  22d  of  April  O'Connell  left  Lyons  at  noon,  and 
reached  Valence  at  five  in  the  evening.  The  comparative 
mildness  of  the  temperature  afforded  him  some  transient 
relief.  On  the  24th  he  left  Valence  for  Avignon,  where  his 
friends  were  led  to  form  fallacious  hopes  of  his  recovery  by 
the  rapid  improvement  which  took  place.  "  The  invalid," 
says  Dr  Lacour,  "  took  an  active  part  in  all  our  conver- 
sations." On  the  3d  of  May,  at  Marseilles,  "  he  conversed 
in  the  evening  with  a  vigour  and  gaiety  that  he  had  not 
displayed  since  his  departure  from  England."  A  delusive 
flash,  alas  !  to  be  speedily  followed  by  death. 

On  the  6th  the  illustrious  traveller  arrived  at  Genoa, 
where,  for  the  first  two  days,  his  health  still  presented  an 
improved  appearance.  On  the  third  day  he  complained  of 
a  violent  pain  in  the  head.  Other  symptoms  of  a  very 
alarming  nature  dispelled  the  hopes  his  friends  had  begun 
to  cherish.  His  physicians  were  embarrassed  by  his  posi- 
tive refusai  tc  swallow  any  medicine,  "  even  the  most 
simple." 

O'Connell  was  accompanied  and  attended  by  a  faithful 
servant,  who,  strange  to  say,  died  eventually  as  porter  in  a 
workhouse.    His  narrative  of  O'Connell's  last  davs6  cannot 


«  The  writer  is  indebted  to  the  Rev.  John  O'Hanlon,  a  Catholic  priest, 
and  a  most  accomplished  writer,  for  this  copy  of  Duggan's  narrative. 


756 


BIS  ATTENDANT 


fai)  to  be  read  with  singular  interest,  and  has  never  been 
published  before  :— 

"  [Title  on  outside  of  manuscript]  '  John  Duggan's  Notes  relating 
to  the  last  illness  of  Daniel  O'Connell,  Esq.,  M.P.,  a.d.  1847. 
Physicians'  Prescriptions/ 
"[Page  1  has  the  heading]  'John  Duggan,  Aries,  1st  May  1847' 
[in  his  own  hand,  then  follows  by  the  Rev.  J.  O'Hanlon]. 
"  Daniel  O'Connell's  1  faithful  Duggan,'  at  present  porter  in  the 
South  Dublin  Union  Workhouse,  presented  me  with  the  following 
interesting  Notes,  compiled  by  him  during  the  last  days  of  the  illus- 
trious Liberator.    He  told  me  he  had  a  number  of  other  notices  of 
O'Connell's  sayings  and  doings  taken  at  the  time  of  their  occur- 
rence :   but  that  the  latter,  loose  memoranda,  are  now  lost  or 
destroyed.    He  has  various  keepsakes,  objects  formerly  belonging  to 
the  greatest  Irishman  our  country  ever  produced.    Duggan  made 
me  a  present  also  of  the  pencil  used  by  O'Connell  in  taking  notea 
on  the  last  occasion  he  ever  sat  in  the  British  House  of  Commons, 
and  the  steel  pen  and  holder  used  by  the  great  Tribune  in  London 
before  his  last  departure  for  the  Continent. 

"  John  O'Hanlon,  C.C. 

"Dublin,  S.S.  Michael  and  John's,  March  14,  1862." 
"  [Then  follows  in  Duggan's  writing]  : — 
"March  1847. 

"  Monday  22. — Sailed  in  Prince  Ernest  steamer,  from  Folke- 
stone for  Boulogne,  at  11.48  a.m.  ;  twenty-nine  miles,  two  and  a 


The  original  is  now  placed  in  the  archives  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy, 
The  copy,  as  given  above,  was  made  for  this  work  by  the  Rev.  Maxwell 
Close,  a  Protestant  clergyman,  and  member  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy, 
to  whom  we  are  under  many  obligations.  There  is  no  alteration  either 
in  the  spelling  or  the  mode  of  expression.  The  observations  in  brackets 
are  by  the  Rev.  M.  Close,  as  it  is  matter  of  interest  to  have  such  a  MS. 
given  to  the  public  literally  • 


LAST  DATS. 


I 

757 


half  hours.  One  hour  and  a  half  in  the  Customhouse.  Hotel  des 
Baines,  four  o'clock.    Fares,  8s.  and  6s. 

"Tuesday  23.— Started  at  12.15  a.m.  Samer,  Cortaont,  Mon- 
erueil  ;  fifteen,  nine,  thirteen  =  thirty-seven  kilometres.  Dinner. 

"Wednesday  24.— Left  at  11.15  a.m.  Namport,  fourteen; 
Bernay,  nine;  Nouvion,  seven;  Abbeville,  thirteen  =  forty- three 
kilometres.    Arrived  at  three  o'clock 

"  Thursday  25. — Left  by  railway  for  Amiens.  Forty-five  kilo- 
metres in  two  hours. 

"Friday  26. — Left  Amiens  by  rail  for  Paris  at  11.30  o'clock. 
Seventy-eight  miies  in  three  and  a  half  hours.  Arrived  at  the 
Hotel  Windsor  at  four  o'clock.  The  luggage  was  not  searched, 
through  compliment  to  Mr  O'Connell. 

"  Saturday  27. — Thomas  Hall  called  on  Mr  [O'Connell  evidently 
omitted  ;  on  second  thoughts,  Mr  may  be  me]. 

"  Sunday  28. — Paris.  Seen  the  two  Miss  Conyngham's  in  the 
street. 

"  Monday  29. — Paris.  Mrs  Conyngham,  at  her  own  request, 
was  introduced  by  me  to  Mr  O'Connell,  as  also  Miss  Conyngham. 
Mrs  Conyngham  said  I  was  the  best  nurse-tender  in  the  world,  and 
that  I  had  nurse-tended  her  father  for  years.  Drs  Cornel  and 
Ollive  are  the  physicians  attending  Mr  O'Connell,  and  Mr  Stephens, 
Rue  Neuve,  Luxembourg,  the  dentist. 

"  Left  Paris  for  Orleans,  by  rail,  after  dinner,  at  4  o'clock  p.m. 

"  Tuesday  30.— To  Port  aux  Moines,  13 ;  Chateau  Neuf,  13 ; 
Auyoer  [I],  twenty-three.    Gien  ;  slept. 

"Wednesday  31.— Left  Gien  at  1.30  p.m.  Briare,  eighteen; 
JTewvy,  14.    Slept,  &c. 

"  April. 

"  Timrsday  1.— Three  stages  to-day.  Cosne,  fourteen  ;  Pouilly, 
fifteen  ;  La  Charite,  thirteen— slept. 

"To  Pogues,  thirteen;  Nevers,  twelve  kilometres. 
"  Saturday  3.— Nevers.    Snow  the  last  three  nights. 
"  East.  4. — Nevers.    Mass  in  the  hotel. 


758 


LAST  DAYS. 


"  Monday  5. — Left  for  Magney,  eleven  j  St  Pierre,  8  ;  St  Xm« 
bert,  ten;  Valleneuve,  twelve;  Moulins,  fifteen  —  slept.  The 
peasantry  have  the  most  extraordinary  bonnets  I  ever  saw. 

"  Tuesday  6. — Bessay,  fifteen  ;  Varennes,  fifteen — slept. 

"  Wednesday  7. — To  Gerand  le  Puy,  eleven  ;  La  Palisse,  ten. 

"  Thursday  8.  — La  Palisse  [one]. 

"  Friday  9. — Started  for  Droituriere,  eight ;  St  Martin,  seven  ; 
La  Pacandiere,  eight ;  St  Germain,  twelve  ;  Boanne,  twelve — slept. 
Last  year  a  great  part  of  this  town  was  destroyed  by  the  overflow- 
ing of  the  Loire,  bridges  and  houses  being  swept  away. 

"Saturday  10. — Left  for  St  Syniphorien,  seventeen;  Pain  Bou- 
chain,  fifteen  ;  Tarare,  twelve — slept. 

"  Sunday  II. — Went  to  seven  o'clock  mass.  You  are  accommo- 
dated with  a  chair  for  five  cents.  Started  for  Arnas,  eleven  ; 
SaLvagny,  nineteen  ;  Lyons,  fourteen.  The  road  yesterday  winding 
through  a  mountainous  district,  the  highest  pass  being  3000  feet 
above  the  sea,  being  cultivated  to  the  highest  summit,  vines  and 
fruit-trees.  They  are  most  careful  of  the  water,  stopping  it  in 
every  hollow  for  irrigating  the  grass  lands. 

"  Lyons,  Hotel  de  FUnivers,  kept  by  Messrs  Glover  and  VufFray. 
They  have  been  servants.  Dr  Viricel  and  Surgeon  Bonny,  Mr 
O'ConnelFs  medical  attendants.  Frost  and  snow  for  several 
days. 

"19  [No  day  of  week]. — Mr  O'Connell  made  a  promise  to  me 
that,  should  he  ever  recover,  he  would  mark  his  gratitude  to  me  in 
a  way  I  little  thought  of  or  expected,  and  that  I  should  be  for  ever 
independent  of  servitude.  He  interrupted  Dr  Miley,  in  conversation 
with  Dr  Viricel,  to  repeat  over  again  to  him  the  same  promise  a 
second  time,  and  binding  himself  thereto.  The  above  came  entirely 
from  himself,  without  a  single  observation  from  me.  Such  promise 
signifies  but  little,  for  I  have  signed  the  will  and  codicils  which,  of 
course,  exclude  me  in  participation  of  any  benefit  arising  from 
them. 

"  21. — Give,  as  my  decided  opinion,  Mr  O'Connell  had  passed  th« 


LAST  DATS. 


759 


artm,  and  that  he  would  be  gaining  ground  every  day,  although 
slowly  he  would  still  be  gaining. 

"  Thursday  22.— After  a  stay  of  eleven  days,  left  Lyons  at  10.11 
a.m.  by  the  Rhone  to  Valence,  in  five  hours.  Dr  Lacour  came  as 
Mr  O'Connell's  medical  doctor  attendant. 

u  Friday  23. — Remained  at  Valence. 

"Saturday  24.— Left  for  Avignon  by  the  steamboat— arrived  in 
six  hours. 

"  25. — Mass  in  the  house.  Hotel  de  l'Europe  good.  Nfe  from 
Lyons,  135  miles,  eleven  hours  in  two  days,  [thus] 

14  29. — After  remaining  five  days  at  the  city  of  the  Popes,  left  by 
the  steamer  for  Aries  ;  three  hours  steaming,  but  detained  for  six 
hours  unloading  and  taking  in  merchandise. 

"  Friday  30. — Remain  at  Aries,  the  ancient  Rome  of  Gaul.  I  seen 
the  Roman  amphitheatre  to-day,  which  remains  very  perfect,  consider- 
ing the  length  of  time  since  its  foundation,  and  the  soft  stone  it  is 
constructed  off,  and  which  is  cut  with  hatchets  and  saws.  Also  the 
remains  of  a  splendid  theatre,  the  pit  and  seats  for  the  audience 
being  quite  perfect.  And  the  Necropolis  with  some  hundreds  of 
stone  coffins  disinterred,  with  covers  quite  perfect.  They  seem  to 
be  raising  others,  where  they  are  piled  in,  thick  as  paving-stones. 
Seen  a  great  number  of  lizards  amongst  the  stone  coffins  that  ara 
remaining  in  their  original  position. 

"  May. 

"  Saturday  1. — Aries.    The  wind  too  high  to  sail  by  the  steamer. 

"  Sunday  2. — Left  Aries  at  9.30  A.M.  by  steamer  for  Marseilles— 
P  hours  ;  went  to  the  Hotel  de  FOrient. 

';  Wednesday  5. — Sailed  at  five  o'clock  P.M.  in  the  Lombard,  for 
Genoa,  in  21.30  hours  on  Thursday. 

<<  6. — Went  to  the  Hotel  Feder.  Snow  on  the  mountains  along  the 
Bay  of  Genoa;  remained  7th  and  8th.  Mr  O'Connell  went  out  in 
the  carriage. 

"  Sunday  9. — Mass  in  the  hotel.    Mr  O'Connell  had  a  bad  night 


760 


LAST  DAYS. 


from  the  effects  of  an  injection  administered  by  Dr  Lacour  last 
night. 

"  Monday  10. — No  better.  Leeches  applied  ;  eat  nothing  to-day 
nor  yesterday. 

"  Tuesday  11. — Worse  to-day.    No  food. 

"Wednesday  12. — No  better.  No  food.  Leeches  to  back  of 
his  ears. 

"Thursday  13. — Same.  Same  last — his  voice  almost  gone — 
delirious. 

"Friday  14. — Blister  to  back  of  his  head,  10.30  a.m..  Delirious, 
his  voice  scarcely  audible.    Bled  in  the  arm,  eight  o'clock  p.m. 

"  Saturday  15. — Extreme  unction,  three  a.m.  Cataplasms  on  his 
thighs  and  back,  9.30  a.m.    Leeches  on  the  temples  at  four  o'clock 

P.M. 

["  On  some  letter  paper  inserted  into  the  book  Duggan's  hand- 
writing.] 

"  Sunday,  May  9. — Repeatedly  said  he  could  not  live  after  the 
effects  of  the  enema  ;  to  be  sure  not  to  forget  the  message  for  Mr 
Morgan  ;  the  Cyclopaedia  Britannica  ;  and  the  teeth  for  Mr  Brophy, 
&c.    Had  a  bad  night,  and  restless  all  the  day. 

"Monday  10. — Duggan,  you  are  the  only  person  I  can  depend 
on,  do  not  let  me  be  buried  until  after  I  am  dead ;  has  taken  a  dis- 
like to  the  French  doctor  ;  would  not  see  the  Italian  ;  quite  soothed 
in  conversation  with  Dr  Duff.  Leeches.  No  food  to-day  nor 
yesterday. 

"  Tuesday  11. — At  twelve  o'clock  asked  me  had  Mr  Wise  brought 
forward  his  motion,  and  who  seconded  it.  That  Wise  was  mad, 
and  to  call  him  should  there  be  a  division.    No  food  ;  worse  to-day. 

"Wednesday  12. — Not  better.  Not  to  let  the  Frenchman  come 
near  him,  for  that  lie  gave  him  something  that  burned  his  mouth 
and  throat.    Leeches  to  back  of  the  ears.    No  food. 

"Thursday  13. — Voice  scarcely  audible.  Took  my  hands  and 
bade  me  farewell  several  times  ;  do  not  let  them  bury  me  til  aftri 
I  am  dead.     Incoherent.    No  sustenance. 

"  Friday  14.— Worse.     Blister  back  of  the  head.  Bltd. 


LAST  DAYS. 


*  Saturday  15.— Voice  almost  gone ;  called  me  byname  several 
time-,  in  course  of  the  morning.  The  cataplasms  made  him  uncom- 
fortable ;  he  said  I  should  take  them  off.  [Eud  of  inserted  paper— 
the  book  proceeds.] 

"  Sal  I  y  15. — Died  without  a  struggle  at  0.30  p.m.  He  took 
no  food  since  Saturday  last.  I  said  nothing  to  Dr  Miley  of  the 
yi onuses  made  to  me,  should  Mr  O'Connell  return  home. 

14  Sunday  1G. — Mr  O'CouueU's  body  taken  to  the  hospital  at  9.30 
o'clock  P.M. 

M Monday  17. — Left  my  measure  for  mourning;  posted  a  letter 
for  Eliza,  and  one  for  J.  Conlon — paid  2s.  Sd. 

"  Tuesday  IS. — Inactive — blue  devils  all  day. 

M  Wednesday  19. — The  body  laid  out  in  the  church,  and  High 
Mass  at  twelve  o'clock.  Dr  Miley,  Mr  Dean,  and  I  attended.  [I 
believe  what  I  read  as  Mr  Dean  is  Mr  Dan — see  below.] 

"  Saturday  22. — Sailed  from  Genoa  in  Lombard  at  eight  o'clock 
P.M.  ;  arrived  at  Leghorn  in  eight  hours.  Went  on  shore  by  seven 
o'clock.  Dr  .Miley  said  mass  at  one  of  the  churches.  Returned  to 
breakfast  to  the  Hotel  du  Nord  at  nine  o'clock ;  started  by  the 
eleven  o'clock  train  for  Pisa. 

M  Sunday  23.  —  Seen  the  Cathedral,  Cemetery,  Tower,  and 
Baptistery.  Returned  by  the  one  o'clock  train.  Dined,  and  sailed 
at  six  o'clock  by  the  Lombard.  Arrived  at  Civita  Vecchia  in  ten 
hours. 

*  Monday  24. — Breakfasted  ;  mass  in  the  church.  Started  for 
Rome  at  a  quarter  to  eleven  a.m.  Stopped  two  hours  for  dinner  and 
to  refresh  the  horses.  Seen  a  great  many  fire-flies  for  the  first  time. 
Arrived  at  the  Hotel  Melouni  at  a  quarter  to  eleven  r.M.  [MeJouni 
thus  spelled  here.] 

«  Tuesday  25— Walked  out  for  a  short  turn,  but  the  heat  being  so 
intense,  was  obliged  to  return.  Mr  Meloni  took  me  in  his  carriage 
to  St  Peter's  at  six  o'clock. 

'•Wednesday  26.— Walked  out  after  dinner;  two  o'clock  found 
out  the  amphitheatre,  the  Forum,  and  the  Pantheon,  without  asking 


762  LAST  DAYS. 


a  question.  Went  to  an  amphitheatre  at  six  o'clock.  Drama  in  tha 
open  air  in  the  same  circular  form  as  the  Coliseum. 

"  June  28 — Rome. 

"  Grand  Requiem  Mass  at  St  Andrews'  for  Mr  O'Connell's  repose 
with  an  oration  by  the  Padre  Ventura. 

"  30. — A  second  mass,  with  the  continuation  of  the  oration. 

"  July. 

"  1, — Left  Rome  at  six  o'clock  p.m. — travelled  all  night. 
"  2. — Mr  Dan,  bilious  attack  at  Rodificani.    I  slept  in  his  room. 
"  3. — Able  to  go  on  at  two  p.m.    Slept  a  [at  ?]  Sienne. 
"  Sunday  i. — Started  from  Sienne  at  twelve  o'clock  ;  in  Florence 
at  seven  p.m. 

"  G. — I  left  in  the  Diligence  for  Leghorn  at  seven  a.m. — arrived 
at  one  p.m. 

"  7. — No  boat  for  Genoa  yesterday.  Started  at  six  o'clock  hy  the 
Nuova  Columba  (a  dirty  boat  and  a  robbing  crew) ;  arrived  at  five 
a.m.    [End  of  Duggan's  writing.] 

["  Written  by  Kev.  J.  O'H.]  Duggan  heard  O'Conneli  state  to  a 
gentleman  on  a  certain  occasion,  that  within  O'Connell's  memory, 
whilst  living  at  Darrynane,  the  sea- weeds  thrown  on  the  shore 
differed  in  character  and  species  at  different  periods.  This  was 
attributed  by  O'Conneli  to  a  change  in  the  direction  of  the  gulf 
stream  in  the  Atlantic.  J.  O'H. 

["  Six  prescriptions  are  pasted  in  the  end  of  the  book."] 

O'Conneli  was  accompanied  on  this  last  journey  by  two 
of  his  sons  and  by  his  chaplain  Dr  Miley.  During-  his 
short  stay  in  Paris  lie  was  presented  with  an  address  by 
the  Count  de  Montalembert,  from  which  it  is  evident  that 
he  learned  to  appreciate  O'Conneli  more  as  years  advanced. 
He  said : 


MOXTALEMLERT  GOMES  TO  COMFORT.  763 


*  Your  glory  is  not  only  Irish,  it  is  Catholic.    Wherever  Catho- 
des begin  anew  to  practise  civic  virtues  and  devote  themselves  to  the 
conquest  of  their  civic  rights,  it  is  your  work.    Wherever  religion 
tends  to  emancipate  itself  from  the  thraldom  in  which  several  gene- 
rations of  sophists  and  logicians  have  placed  it,  to  you,  after  God,  is 
religion  indebted.    May  that  thought  fortify  you — revive  you  in 
your  infirmities,  and  console  you  in  the  afflictions  with  which  your 
patriotic  heart  is  now  overwhelmed.    The  wishes  of  Catholic  France 
will  accompany  you  in  your  pilgrimage  to  Rome.    The  day  of  your 
meeting  with  Pius  IX.— when  the  greatest  and  most  illustrious 
Christian  of  our  age  shall  kneel  at  the  feet  of  a  Pontiff  who  recalls 
to  our  recollections  the  most  brilliant  period  of  Church  history — a 
truly  momentous  event  in  the  history  of  our  time  will  take  place. 
If,  in  that  instant  of  supreme  emotion,  your  heart  should  entertain 
a  thought  not  absorbed  by  Ireland  and  Rome,  remember  us;  the 
homage  of  the  affection,  respect,  and  devotion  of  the  Catholics  of 
France  for  the  chief  of  the  Church,  could  not  be  better  placed  than 
on  the  lips  of  the  Catholic  Liberator  of  Ireland." 
O'Connell's  reply  was  necessarily  brief: 
'"Gentlemen/  he  said,  'sickness  and  emotion  close  my  lips.  I 
should  require  the  eloquence  of  your  president  (Montalembert)  to 
express  to  vou  all  my  gratitude.    But  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
utter  all  I* feel.    Know,  simply,  that  I  regard  this  demonstration 
on  vour  part  as  one  of  the  most  significant  events  of  my  life.'  " 

Thousands  of  persons  called  at  his  hotel,  but  he  was 
quite  unable  to  receive  visitors.  Mr  Berryer  was  one  of 
the  favoured  few.  At  Lyons  public  services  were  made  in 
all  the  churches  for  his  recovery.  On  the  15th  of  May,  Dr 
Milev  wrote  from  Genoa — 

-  The  Liberator  is  not  better  ;  he  is  worse-ill  as  ill  can  be  At 
two  o'clock  tins  morning  1  found  it  necessary  to  send  for  l he  Via  i- 
d  the  holv  oil.    Though  it  was  the  aead  of  night,  the  Car- 


cum  ami 


764 


THE  LAST  FORTY  HOURS. 


dinal  Archbishop  (he  is  eighty-eight  years  old),  attended  by  his 
clerics  and  several  of  the  faithful,  carried  the  adorable  Viaticum 
with  the  solemnities  customary  in  Catholic  countries,  and  reposed  it 
in  the  tabernacle  which  we  had  prepared  in  the  chamber  of  the 
illustrious  sufferer.  Though  prostrate  to  the  last  degree,  he  was 
perfectly  in  possession  of  his  mind  whilst  receiving  the  last  rites, 
The  adorable  name  of  Jesus,  which  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
invoking,  was  constantly  on  his  lips  with  trembling  fervour.  Ilia 
thoughts  have  been  entirely  absorbed  by  religion  since  his  illness 
commenced.  For  the  last  forty  hours  he  will  not  open  his  lips  to 
speak  of  anything  else.  The  doctors  still  say  they  have  hope.  I 
have  none.  All  Genoa  is  praying  for  him.  I  have  written  to 
Home.  Be  not  surprised  if  I  am  totally  silent  as  to  our  own  feel 
ings.    It  is  poor  Daniel  who  is  to  be  pitied  more  than  all." 

The  Times'  correspondent  said  in  a  letter,  dated  Genoa, 
May  18: — Towards  three  p.m.  on  Sunday,  Mr  O'Connell 
called  his  own  man,  and  taking  him  warmly  by  both  hands, 
to  acknowledge  the  rare  fidelity  with  which  he  had  served 
him,  he  said,  "  As  yet  I  am — I  am,  not  dying;"  but  two 
mornings  later,  he  called  for  Dr  Miley,  and  said,  66 1  am 
dying,  my  dear  friend."  His  fear  of  being  buried  alive 
was  singular  and  painful.  More  than  once  he  earnestly 
entreated  those  around  him  to  beware  lest  such  a  fearful 
catastrophe  should  occur.  His  serenity  and  patience  in 
agonising  pain  was  remarked  by  all  who  had  the  sad  privi- 
lege of  attending  him.  The  holy  name  of  Jesus,  the  Memo- 
rare  and  verses  from  the  Psalms,  were  constantly  on  his 
lips.  lie  had  well  known,  and  loved,  and  practised  hia 
religion  during  life;  it  was  now  his  consolation  in  death. 
"  St  Liguori's  Preparation  for  Death,"  was  found  after  hi? 


PEACE  AT  LAST. 


765 


decease  with  marks  of  long  and  constant  use.  He  was, 
indeed,  too  wise  a  man  not  to  prepare  himself  well  for  his 
emancipation  from  the  death  of  human  life  to  the  birth  of 
unending  existence.  He  who  had  been  the  instrument  in 
the  1  lands  of  God  to  obtain  the  liberation  of  millions  of 
God's  children  from  the  chains  which  held  them  from  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion,  as  far  as  human  chains  could 
hold,  he  surely  of  all  men  could  say  with  confidence — 
Lihcravi  animam  meam. 

His  death  was  peace.  How,  indeed,  could  it  be  other- 
wise ?  Since  he  passed  from  the  stormy  life  in  which  it  had 
been  his  duty  to  live  and  to  work,  with  the  holy  name  of 
the  Saviour  upon  his  lips,  and  invoking,  in  that  month 
dedicated  to  the  Mother  of  God,  her  protecting  care. 

But  the  Catholic  Church  does  not  leave  her  children 
even  when  they  cease  to  breathe  on  earth.  She  passes  with 
them  through  the  dark  portals  of  the  grave ;  she  waits  by 
them  in  those  regions  of  pain  where  all  human  dross  is 
purged  and  refined  so  as  by  fire,  where  the  awful  justice 
of  God  lays  its  hand  upon  the  soul,  not  in  anger,  but  in 
mercy,  to  purify  it  for  the  Divine  presence. 

By  night  and  by  day  the  faithful  watched  by  the  dead 
man's  bier,  some  crying  out,  in  the  bitterness  of  their  hearts, 
because  the  light  of  their  life  was  quenched— 

"  Eeu  mihi,  quia  incolutus  metis  prolongatus  est ;" 
and  others  saying  for  him,  and  for  their  own  poor  souls,  in 


766  THE  FAITHFUL  BY  HIS  BIER. 


anticipation  of  that  dread  summons  which  mnst  come  to 
them  also — 

u  D amine,  secundum  actum  meum,  noli  mejudicare;  nihil  dignum 
in  conspectit  tuo  egi :  ideo  deprecor  magistatem  tuam :  ut  tu  Dena 
delects  iniquitatem  meam. 

"  Libera  me,  Domine,  de  morte  seterna,  in  die  ilia  tremenda,  quando 
coeli  movendi  sunt  et  terra,  dum  veneris  judicare  saeculum  per 
ignem.  Tremens  factus  sum  ego,  et  timeo  dum  discussio  venerit 
atque  ventura  ira,  quando  coeli  movendi  sunt  et  terra, — dies  ilia, 
dies  irae,  calamitas  et  miseriae,  dies  magna  et  amara  valde,  dum 
veneris  judicare  sseculum  per  ignem.7 

Friar,  and  monk,  and  nan,  surrounded  him,  and  prayed 
still  for  his  eternal  repose.  Then  they  took  him  to  the 
Church  of  Our  Lady  Delle  Vigne,  for  she  whom  he  had  so 
honoured  in  life  would  have  him  still  in  her  keeping  after 
death ;  and  they  offered  for  him  that  adorable  Sacrifice  at 
which  in  life  he  assisted  so  fervently  and  so  frequently; 
and  they  sang  that  grand  old  chaunt  the  Dies  Irce,  the 
wail  of  souls  beseeching  their  God  to  remember  that  He 
had  died  for  them,  and  to  pity  and  pardon  them  even 
while  He  punished  and  purified.8 

The  body  had  been  embalmed  previously,  and  the  causes 
of  disease  were  verified  by  the  physicians.    The  heart  was 

7  Office  for  the  Dead  at  Matins. 

8  "Dies  iroo,  dies  ilia, 

Sol  vet  sosclum  in  favilla  ; 
Teste  David  cum  Sybilla. 

Recordare  Jesu  pie, 
Quod  sum  causa  turn  viae, 


FUNERAL  OBSEQUIES. 


767 


deposited  in  an  urn,  as  O'Connell  had  directed  in  his  will, 
with  this  inscription  : — 

"  Daniel  O'Connell,  natus  Kerry,  obiit  Genuse  die  15  Maii  1847, 
ctatiisuae  anno  72" — (Daniel  O'Connell,  born  in  Kerry,  died  on  the 
15th  May  1847,  in  Genoa,  in  the  72d  year  of  his  age). 

It  was  bequeathed  to  Rome — a  touching  memento  of  his 
life-long  devotion  to  the  See  of  Peter.  This  treasure  was 
conveyed  to  its  destination  by  Dr  Miley  and  Mr  D.  O'Con- 
nell. When  they  arrived  in  Rome,  they  were  presented  to 
His  Holiness  Pius.  IX.  by  Monsignore  Cullen.  "  Since  I 
had  not  the  happiness  of  embracing  the  hero  of  Chris- 
tianity," exclaimed  the  Holy  Father,  "  let  me  at  least 
embrace  his  son.  I  have  read,"  he  continued,  "  with 
extreme  interest  the  accounts  of  his  last  moments:  his 
death  was  indeed  blessed." 

O'Conueirs  funeral  obsequies  were  celebrated  in  Rome 
with  the  greatest  pomp  and  magnificence.  Artisans,  sculp- 
tors, painters,  and  architects,  were  employed  for  a  week  in 
making  preparation  for  the  funeral  ceremonies. 

The  students  of  the  Irish  College,  with  their  venerated 
President,  occupied  the  foremost  place,  and  at  the  altar  the 
mass  was  said  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.  It  was  computed 
that  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  thousand  persons  visited  the 


Ke  me  perdas  ilia  die, 
Quserens  me  sedisti  lassna  : 
Redimisti,  crucem  passus, 
Tantus  labor  non  sit  cassus." 


768 


BEING  DEAD,    YET  SPE ARETE. 


basilica  during  the  two  days.  The  walls  were  emblazoned 
with  texts  of  Scripture,  which  were  an  evidence  of  the 
honour  in  which  O'ConnelFs  memory  was  held  by  the  Holy 
See,  as  well  as  of  her  appreciation  of  his  life.  These  texts 
were  indeed  remarkably  appropriate.9 

W ell  might  Father  Miley  say  when  writing  to  Ireland 

"  You  can  have  no  notion  of  the  spirit  with  which  the  Eoman 
people,  properly  so  called,  have  combined  to  render  this  magnificent 
compliment  to  the  Liberator  of  Catholic  Ireland  all  that  it  should 
be.  Nor  is  it  alone  that  the  mere  echoes  of  his  renown  have  told 
on  the  ears  of  this  posterity  of  kings  and  martyrs;  they  have  be- 
come indoctrinated  with  the  great  principles  of  our  unequalled 
chief.  If  I  may  so  express  myself,  they  have  become  thoroughly 
Irish.  They  now  know  our  position — the  perils  over  which  we  have 
triumphed,  the  perils  still  more  menacing  which  we  have  yet  to 
overcome" 

Thus,  even  in  death,  did  O'Connell  serve  the  land  he 
loved  so  well. 


9  "  The  cry  of  the  children  of  Israel  is  come  up  unto  me,  and  I  have 
seen  their  afflictions  wherewith  they  are  opjoressed  by  the  Egyptians. 
But  come  and  I  will  send  thee,  that  thou  may  est  bring  forth  thy  peo- 
ple "  (Exod.  iii.  9-11).  "  And  God  gave  him  wisdom  and  understanding 
exceeding  much,  and  largeness  of  heart''  (3  Kings  iv.  29).  "  I  was  clad 
with  justice,  and  I  clothed  myself  with  judgment  as  with  a  robe-  and  a 
diadem.  I  was  an  eye  to  the  blind  and  a  foot  to  the  lame"  (Job  xxix. 
14,  15).  "  He  was  directed  by  God  unto  the  repentance  of  the  nation, 
and  he  took  away  the  abominations  of  wickedness  ;  and  he  directed  hia 
heart  towards  the  Lord,  and  in  the  days  of  sinners  he  strengthened  god- 
liness "  (Eccles.  xlix.  3,  4).  "Where  there  is  no  governor  the  people 
shall  fall"  (Prov.  ix.  14).  "  In  his  life  he  propped  up  the  house,  and  in 
his  days  he  fortified  the  temple  "  (Eccles.  i.  1).  "  Greater  love  than  thia 
no  man  hath,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends  "  (John  xv.  13). 


FUXERAL  ELOGE, 


769 


His  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Father  Ventura, 

who  occupied  four  hours  in  delivering  it.    He  has  been 

called  the  Bossuet  of  Italy,  and  certainly  for  this  only  he 

lias  merited  the  name. 

M  Never  yet,"  he  said,  in  his  grand  and  sonorous  accents,  "  felt  a 
(DTereign  towards  his  people,  or  a  general  towards  his  army,  or 
ruler  for  his  subjects,  or  pastor  for  his  flock,  nay,  or  father  for  his 
children,  more  deeply  solicitous,  more  tender,  or  more  generous,  than 
O'Connell  for  his  beloved  countrymen.  He  loved  but  them.  For 
them  only  he  lived  ;  for  them  only  he  breathed." 

And  then,  with  a  singular  knowledge  of  Ireland,  he 

added — 

u  Who  is  this,  who,  alternately  blushing  and  trembling,  advances 
with  a  hesitating  step  to  the  electoral  booth?  He  is  an  unfortunate 
tenant  and  the  father  of  a  family,  who  being  incarcerated  for  debt 
has,  with  a  most  cruel  compassion,  been  promised  his  liberty  by  his 
creditor,  the  landlord,  on  condition  that  he  should  vote  against 
O'Connell ;  and  now,  affection  for  his  desolate  family  overcoming 
his  feeling  of  duty  towards  his  country  and  its  Liberator,  he  is 
ready  to  vote  as  he  is  required.  But  what  feminine  voice  is  that  he 
hears?  1  Unhappy  man  !  what  are  you  about  doing?  Remember 
your  soul  and  liberty  ! »  0  woman  !  It  was  the  voice  of  his  wife 
—of  that  wife  uho  preferred  the  victory  of  O'Connell  to  the  libera- 
tion of  her  husband,  or  the  comfort  of  her  own  children  !  Its 
■rents  recalled  the  unfortunate  man  to  himself,  and  forgetting  that 
he  was  both  husband  and  father,  he  remembered  only  that  he  was 
a  citizen  He  recorded  his  vote  for  the  Liberator,  and  tranquilly 
returned  to  his  prison.  Rapidly  was  the  sublime  exclamation  of  his 
magnanimous  wife  repeated  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  Island 
of  Saints  It  was  engraven  on  bronze,  and  inscribed  on  the  banners 
of  the  then  existing  National  Association.  And  well  it  deserved  to 
be  •  for  it  compendiously  relates  the  whole  history  of  this  heroic 

o  C 


770 


FUNERAL  ZLOGR 


people,  and  expresses  the  feelings  of  the  genuine  Irish  heart  which, 
during  three  centuries,  has  sacrificed  all  to  God  and  to  its  country 
— to  religion  and  liberty. 

"  Imagine,  therefore,  if  such  a  people  could  consent  that  their 
Liberator  and  the  father  of  his  country,  who  had  sacrificed  to  Ire- 
land all  his  private  resources,  his  professional  emoluments,  and  his 
repose,  should  not  be  supported  by  his  country.  Although  the  most 
Catholic,  the  most  moral,  courageous,  and  noble  people  in  existence, 
they  are  also  the  poorest  and  most  destitute  ;  and  if,  by  the  most 
laborious  toil,  they  can  procure  a  bare  sufficiency  of  potatoes  for 
the  support  of  life,  they  are  more  than  satisfied — they  are  happy. 
Yet,  nevertheless,  0  generous  people !  how  willingly  have  you  de- 
prived yourselves  of  your  last  mouthful  to  add  your  mite  to  the 
tribute  of  your  Liberator — a  tribute  thus  swollen  annually  to  the 
sum  even  of  one  hundred  thousand  crowns ! 

"By  reason  of  this  voluntary  national  tribute,  Protestant  insol- 
ence had  assigned  to  him  the  title  of  '  king  of  the  beggars.' — Poor, 
miserable,  and  most  pitiful  fatuity,  which,  while  intending  to  mock, 
actually  did  him  honour.  For  what  sovereignty  is  more  beautiful 
than  that  whose  tribute  is  not  wrung  from  unwilling  fear,  but  that 
is  a  voluntary,  love-inspired  offering  ?  What  sovereignty  is  more 
glorious  than  that  whose  sword  is  the  pen,  and  whose  single  artillery 
the  tongue  ;  whose  only  courtiers  are  the  poor,  and  its  sole  body- 
guard the  affections  of  the  people  ?  What  sovereignty  more  bene- 
ficial than  that  which,  far  from  causing  tears  to  flow,  dries  them  ; 
which,  far  from  shedding  blood,  staunches  it;  which,  far  from  immo- 
lating life,  preserves  it;  which,  far  from  pressing  down  upon  the 
people,  elevates  them  ;  which,  far  from  forging  chains,  breaks  them; 
and  which  always  maintains  order,  harmony,  and  peace  without  ever 
inflicting  the  slightest  aggression  on  liberty  1  Where  is  the  monarch 
who  would  not  esteem  himself  happy  in  reigning  thus  1  Of  such  a 
sovereignty  we  may  with  truth  say  that  which  was  said  of  Solo- 
mon's— that  none  can  equal  its  grandeur,  its  splendour,  its  glory,  and 
its  magnificence:  Bex  pacificus  maynificatus  est  super omiies  reget 
ierrae.'  (3  Reg.  x.  23)." 


RETURXS  TO  REST  WITH  HIS  FATHERS.  771 


He  concluded  : — 

"  It  was  in  pronouncing  the  most  sweet  names  of  Jesus  and  of  Mary 
that  at  last  was  stilled  and  lost  those  powerful  accents  which  had 
moved  and  shaken  the  universe — and  then  flew  to  heaven  that  grand 
and  glorious  spirit  which  had  excited  the  admiration  of  the  world. 
It  was  not  permitted  to  him  personally  to  appear  at  Rome.  He 
came  here,  however,  in  spirit,  and  by  his  affectionate  attachment, 
here  too  lie  died  ;  for  his  last  dispositions  were  :  1  My  body  to  Ire- 
land, my  heart  to  Rome,  my  soul  to  heaven  ! '  What  bequests,  what 
legacies  are  these !  What  can  be  imagined  at  the  same  time  more  sub- 
lime and  more  pious  than  such  a  testament  as  this?  Ireland  is  his 
country,  Rome  is  his  Church,  heaven  is  his  God.  God,  the  Church, 
and  his  country  ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  glory  of  God,  the  liberty 
of  the  Church,  the  happiness  of  his  country,  such  are  the  great  ends 
of  all  his  actions,  such  the  noble  objects,  the  only  objects  of  his 
charity  !  He  loves  his  country,  and  therefore  he  leaves  to  it  his 
bodv  ;  he  loves  still  more  the  Church,  and  hence  he  bequeaths  to  it 
his  heart  ;  and  still  more  than  the  Church  he  loves  God,  and  there- 
fore confides  to  Him  his  soul." 

O'Connell's  remains  were  not  removed  to  Ireland  until 
August    Wherever  they  rested  on  the  mournful  journey 
gpeciul  respect  was  paid  to  them.    They  arrived  in  Dublin 
in  the  Duchess  of  Kent  steamer,  and  were  received  with 
almost  royal  honours.    A  sea-chapel  had  been  erected  on 
the  deck,  where  prayers  were  offered  during  the  voyage. 
J*e  uriWing  words  were  engraved  on  the  coffin-plate  :-  • 
"  Daniel  O'Conxell, 
Hiberniae  Liberator, 
ad  limina  Apostolorum  pergens 
Die  XV.  Mail,  anno  MDCCCXLVII. 
Genua  obdormiit  in  Domino  : 
Vixit  annos  LXXI.  menses  IX.  dies  IX 
R.  I  P." 


772  LIVES  IN  THE  HEARTS  OF  HIS  PEOPLE. 


And  so  they  bore  him  to  his  well-earned  rest.  What  was 
it  to  him,  then,  that  he  was  followed  to  his  grave  by  thou- 
sands, that  five  prelates  assisted  at  his  obsequies  in  the 
cathedral  church  in  Marlborough  Street,  Dublin,  and  that 
afterwards  a  magnificent  monument  was  erected  by  a  grate- 
ful people  to  his  memory  ?  The  deeds  that  he  did  in  life 
were  of  more  importance  to  him  now  than  all  the  honour 
that  could  be  paid  to  him ;  and  though  it  was  fitting  xhat 
a  tower  should  be  erected  to  his  memory  in  Ireland,  aiid 
rarely  carved  marble  should  commemorate  him  in  Rome,  he 
has  a  better  monument,  and  one  infinitely  more  durable,  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people  for  whom  he  lived,  for  whom  h® 
died,  and  to  whom  he  was  truly  the  Liberator. 

THE  DEAD  TRIBUNE. 

BY  DENIS  FLORENCE  MACCARTHY,  ESQ. 

"While  the  tree 
Of  freedom's  withered  trunk  puts  forth  a  leaf, 
Even  for  thy  tomb  a  garland  let  it  be, 
The  forum's  champion  and  the  people's  chief. n 

— Btroh. 

The  awful  shadow  of  a  great  man's  death 

Falls  on  this  land,  so  sad  and  dark  before,— 
Dark  with  the  famine  and  the  fever  breath, 

And  mad  dissensions  gnawing  at  its  com 
Oh  !  let  its  hush  foul  discord's  manaic  roar, 

And  make  a  mourn' ul  truce,  however  brief, 
Like  hostile  armies  when  the  day  is  o'er  !  — 

And  thus  devote  the  night-time  of  our  grief 
To  tears  and  prayers  for  him,  the  great  departed  chiefc 


"THE  DEAD  TRIBUNE." 


773 


In  1  Genoa  the  superb  '  O'Connell  dies— 

That  city  of  Columbus  by  the  sea, 
Beneath  the  canopy  of  azure  skies, 

As  high  and  cloudless  as  his  fame  must  be. 
Is  it  mere  chance  or  higher  destiny 

That  brings  these  names  together  ?— One  the  bold 
Wanderer  in  ways  that  none  had  trod  but  he — 

The  other,  too,  exploring  paths  untold, — 
One  a  new  land  would  seek,  and  one  would  save  the  oldl 

With  child-like  incredulity  we  cry — 

Jt  cannot  be  that  great  career  is  run; 
It  cannct  be  but  in  the  eastern  sky 

Again  will  blaze  that  mighty  world-watched  sun ! 
Ah  !  fond  deceit !    The  east  is  dark  and  dun, 

Death's  black  impervious  cloud  is  in  the  skies;— 
Toll  the  deep  bell,  and  h're  the  evening  gun, 

Let  honest  sorrow  moisten  manly  eyes  : — 
A  glorious  sun  has  set  that  never  more  shall  ris& 

Brothers,  who  struggle  yet  in  freedom's  van, 

Where'er  your  forces  o'er  the  world  are  spread, 
The  last  great  champion  of  the  rights  of  man— 

The  last  great  Tribune  of  the  world  is  dead  t 
Join  in  our  grief,  and  let  our  tears  be  shed 

Without  reserve  or  coldness  on  his  bier  :•— 
Look  on  his  life  as  on  a  map  outspread — 

His  fight  for  freedom — freedom  far  and  near; 
And  if  a  speck  should  rise,  oh  I  hide  it  with  a  tear  I 

To  speak  his  praises  little  need  have  we — 

To  tell  the  wonders  wrought  within  those  waves; 

Enough,  so  well  he  taught  us  to  be  tree, 

That  even  to  him  we  could  not  kneel  as  slaves. 


774 


"THE  DEAD  TRIBUNE" 


Oh  !  let  our  tears  be  fast-destroying  graves, 
Where  doubt  and  difference  may  for  ever  lie, 

Buried  and  hid  as  in  sepulchral  caves  : — 
And  let  love's  fond  and  reverential  eye 
Alone  behold  the  star  new  risen  in  the  sky ! 

But  can  it  be  that  well-known  form  is  stark  ? 

Can  it  be  true  that  burning  heart  is  chilli 
Oh  !  can  it  be  that  twinkling  eye  is  dark, 

And  that  great  thunder- voice  is  hushed  and  still  t 
Never  again  upon  the  famous  hill* 

Will  he  preside  as  monarch  of  the  land, 
With  myriad  myriads  subject  to  his  will,— 

Never  again  shall  raise  that  powerful  hand, 
To  rouse,  to  warm,  to  check,  to  kindle,  and  command! 

The  twinkling  eye,  so  full  of  changeful  light, 

Is  dimmed  and  darkened  in  a  dread  eclipse; 
The  withering  scowl — the  smile  so  sunny  bright, 

Alike  have  faded  from  his  voiceless  lips  ; 
The  words  of  power,  the  mirthful  merry  quips, 

The  mighty  onslaught,  and  the  quick  reply, 
The  biting  taunts  that  cut  like  stinging  whips, 

The  homely  truth,  the  lessons  grave  and  high, 
All — all  are  with  the  past,  but  cannot,  shall  not  die  I 


*  The  Hill  of  Tata,  where  the  greatest  of  "the  monster  meetinge* 
*ere  held. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX. 


NOTES  TO  PEDIGREE. 


By  rnquisition.  taken  at  Tralee,  13th  April  1G13,  Murrough  O'Connell  held 

Ba'.lycarbery  under  Sir  Valentine  Browne. 

(a),  By  Inquisition,  held  at  Killarney,  27th  September  1637,  John  O'Falvey, 
of  Ballynehaw,  is  stated  to  have  enfeotfed  to  Morris  Fitz  Geoft'ry  O'Connell,  tha 
lands  of  Ballynehaw  and  Towrure,  barony  of  lveragh,  county  Kerry,  containing 
two  carrucates  of  land.  Maurice  O'Connell,  of  Castleborna2.l1,  was  transplanted 
into  Clare,  where  he  received  grants  of  land  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mount 
Callan,  and  in  the  barony  of  Burren.  He  also  acquired  lauds  by  leases,  made  in 
trust  fir  hiin,  to  his  brother,  John  of  Ashtown,*  wlio  was  law-agent  to  the 
Marquie  of  Ormonde.  In  deeds  in  Fegisters  of  Deeds  Office,  he  is  described  as 
of  Culesegane,  county  Clare.  At  Ennis,  before  John  Gore,  J.P.,  on  the  21st 
December  1GGG.  Examination  of  Murtha  O'Gripha,  of  Roosca,  parish  ol 
Dyshait,  barony  Inchiquin,  county  Clare,  friar  of  the  Order  of  St  Francis  .  .  .  . 
that  lie  and  his  associates  did  erect  a  house  at  Roosca  aforesaid,  in  Brantry,  in 
said  county,  for  officiating.  Saith  Flan  Brody  is  the  guardian  and  head  of  their 
convent,  and  that  the  place  wi;3  given  them  by  one  Moriee  O'Connel,  gent.,  for 
that  u  ;e  ;  and  further,  that  said  Flan  went  thence  this  morning  to  Morioe 
O'Connel,  knows  not  his  business  more  than  that  he  was  to  go  thence  to  Lord 
Clare's  ;  that  they  have  lived  at  Roosca,  and  have  their  convent  there  for  three 
years  past,  and  are  of  the  convent  of  Inish  Clowrode.  This  convent  was  seized 
by  Lord  Carbery  in  1CGG,  as  stated  in  a  letter  of  his  to  the  Duke  of  Ormonde. 

(6),  John  O'Connell,  of  Ashtown,  by  deed  of  27th  and  28th  May  16G7,  granted 
part  of  Ashtown  to  King  Charles  II.  lie  is  mentioned  in  the  '  .Letters  of  tha 
Earl  of  Orrery,"  vol.  i.  p.  141. 

(c),  1G90--Lieutenant-Colonel  O'Connell's  regiment,  the  King's  Guards,  held 
out  in  Minister  for  James  II.  after  the  battle  of  the  Boyne.  1G91— Lieutenant- 
Colonel  O'Connell  caused  TyrconneD  to  leave  the  camp  at  Athlone  for  trying  to 
prevent  the  French  from  sending  troops,  and  for  trying  to  dispose  the  Irish  to 
treat.  Besides  Colonel  Maurice  O'Connell,  the  following  members  of  the  family 
were  officers  in  the  army  of  King  James  II.  : — John,  Maurice's  brother,  slain  at 
Deny  (Lieutenant,  King's  Own  Infantry) ;  John,  of  Darrynane ;  Maurice,  0/ 

Denmaniheen  ;  Jeffrey,  ensign  ;  Morgan,  captain  ;  Teigue,  ensign;  ,  quartei- 

niaster  ;  Charles,  lieutenant-colonel. 

(</),  So-called  in  his  petition  and  case,  but  his  name  most  probably  wa# 
Rickard. 

(e),  John,  Rickard,  and  John,  heirs  in  remainder  of  John  of  Ashtown. 


*  Ewcneously  called  Ashtower,  in  the  petition  of  his  great-grandson  Richard. 


APPENDIX. 


779 


(/),  Of  Rooskagh,  county  Clare.  He  and  his  mother  (Katherine,  widow  of 
Seoff  ry,  of  Ballynehaw,  aud  in  deeds  in  Registry  of  Deeds  Office,  Dublin,  called  of 
Tn rmons)  are  parties  to  several  deeds  of  mortgage,  &c,  Packard,  who  was  km.wti 
\n  "  Lame  Rick,"  having  got  through  his  ancestral  estates  in  Kerry  and  Clare, 
lied  unmarried  in  London  in  1739.  On  his  death  the  Darn  nane  became  the 
eldest  branch  of  the  O'Connells.  He  was  not  born  tiH  after  "the  death  of  Johu 
of  Aahtown. 

(/),  John  O'Connell,  of  Darrynane,  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Christopher 
Oonway,  of  Cloghane,  couuty  Kerry,  seventh  son  of  Christoimer  Conway,  of 
Cloghane,  and  his  wife  Joan  Roche,  of  Dundine,  county  Cork,  which  last  Chris- 
topher w.-is  the  second  son  of  James  Conway,  and  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Edmund 
Roc,  of  Cloghane,  by  his  wife  Alice,  daughter  of  Jenkin  Conway,  of  Killoaglin, 
by  M  iry,  daughter  of  Sir  William  Herbert,  of  Colebrooke.  James  Conway  was 
the  son  of  Christopher  Conway,  by  a  daughter  of  Sir  James  Ware,  said  Chris- 
topher being  the  son  of  Sir  Fulke  Conway,  by  Amy,  daughter  of  Sir  James 
Crofts,  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland.  Sir  Fulke  and  his  eldest  brother,  Viscount 
C  »nw:iy,  were  the  sons  of  Sir  John  Conway,  of  Ragley,  Worcestershire,  by 
Elinor,  daughter  of  Sir  Fulke  Greville,  of  Beauchamp  Court,  Warwickshire,  and 
di  sciilied  on  his  monument  in  Warwick  Cathedral,  in  his  own  words,  as  tho 
■arrant  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  the  friend  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney." 

(</),  Count  O'Connell  entered  the  French  service  in  1759.  He  became  colonel 
of  the  regiment  of  Salm-Salm,  was  present  at  the  capture  of  Portmahou  it)  1779, 
and  severely  wounded  at  Gibraltar  in  1782.  He  was  a  general  in  the  French  army, 
and  at  his  death  the  eldest  colonel  iu  the  English  service.  He  died  in  IS —  at 
Lis  chateau,  near  Clois. 

{It),  Last  heir  in  remainder  to  John  of  Ashtown  and  Colonel  Maurice.  See 
his  claim. 

(i),  Geoffry,  called  Shera-no-moe-mor  (Geoffry  of  the  vast  herds),  was  killed 
by  a  full  from  his  horse  at  Drung  Hill.  He  was  buried  at  Cahirciveeu,  where  the 
following  legible  portion  of  the  inscription  on  his  tomb  was,  some  years  since,  to 
be  seen  -.-Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Geoffry  O'Connell  .  .  .  who  had  honour,  wit, 
and  virtue.  .  .  .  He  died  .  .  .  1722,  aged  G8,  probably  5S  years."  His  wife  was 
u  daughter  of  Christopher  Conway,  of  the  Cloghane  branch  of  that  family,  a  sou 
or  nephew  probably  of  Christopher,  the  father-in-law  of  Johu  O'Connell,  of 
Darrynane. 

(;)  Maurice,  of  Imlaghmore,  married,  in  1731,  Jane,  daughter  of  Thorna? 
Rlennerbassett.  of  Tralee,  and  his  wife,  Jane  Darby,  of  Wales,  which  Thomas 
*us  Mm  second  son  of  Robert  Blennerhassett  and  Avice  or  Alice,  daughter  and 
co-heir  of  Jenkin  Conway,  said  Robert  being  second  son  of  Robert  Bleimerhass.tt, 
and  Flizal  eth  daughter  of  Captain  Jenkin  Conway,  and  Mary,  daughter  of  SlI 
William  Herbert,  of  Colebrooke,  which  Robert  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Blenner- 
La^ett,  the  first  settler  of  the  name  in  Kerry. 


pig  ami  of  James  OConnor-Kerry,  and  Elizabeth  O'Connell,  the  Liberator. 


780 


APPENDIX. 


cousin  and  sister-in-law.    The  Baron  is  mentioned  in  the  notes  to  the  "  Anna)i 

of  the  Four  Masters,"  as  a  chief  representative  of  this  once  royal  house.  Tha 
Chevalier  O'Gorman's  pedigree  is  said  to  have  heen  e emptied  hy  him  for  Count 
O'Counell.  the  Liberator's  uncle,  and  was  given  by  Sir  William  Beiham,  Ulster 
King,  to  the  Rev.  Charles  James  O'Connor-Kerry,  uncle  to  the  compiler. 

It  would  appear  that  the  original  name  of  the  townland  on  which  LHrrynane 
House  stands  was  Agha\  ore,  or  Aghagower,  and  that  Darrynane  applied  probably 
only  to  the  Abbey,  or  Abbey  Island. 

The  mother  of  the  Liberator's  wife  was  a  Miss  Fitzmaurice,  of  Lixnaw,  \>i  th© 
same  family  as  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne. 


COPY  op  the  PETITION  of  Richard  Connell. 
{See  Pedigree  JYo.  16.) 

TO  THE  IIONBLE.  THE  KNIGHTS,  CITIZENS,  AND  13 URCS ESSES  IN  PaRLI4» 

ME  NT  ASSEMBLED, — 

The  Humble  Petition  of  Anne  IIardpenny,  widow,  in  the  behalf  of 
Richard  Connell,  an  orphan, 

Showethy 

That  the  said  Richard  is  grandson  to  Jeffrey  Connell, 
Esqr.,  and  sonn  of  Coll  Maurice  Connell,  late  of  Ivragagh,  in  the  comity 
of  Kerry,  in  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  who  was  slain  in  the  battle  of 
Aughrim,  in  the  year  1690.  That  the  said  Coll  Council  was  possessed 
of  an  estate  near  the  city  of  Dublin,  called  Ash  tower,1  which  was  left 
unto  the  said  Coll  Maurice  Connell  by  his  uncle  J no  Council,  Counsel!?- 
att-law,  by  will,  for  and  during  his  natural  1  life,  and  to  ye  heirs  male  of 
his  body,  and,  for  want  of  .such  heirs,  toothers  specified  in  the  said  will ; 
but  the  said  eftate  became  forfeited  by  the  Coll  being  in  the  rebellion 
in  Ii eland  :  That  the  said  Kii  hard  i3  the  only  surviving  son  of  the  said 
Coll  Maurice  Conmdl  by  Catherine  his  wife,  daughter  of  Sir  Edward 
Langton,  of  the  West  of  England,  and  has  been  bred  up  a  Protestant 
by  yr  peti-  who  had  the  care  of  him  from  his  infancy  :  That  the  said 


1  Properly  A&litoun  or  Astonstown,  property  of  the  Hospital  of  St  John  of 
Jerusalem,  without  Dublin,  devised.  2 2d  Elizabeth  to  Euw-ard  lirowue. — > 
Erok.  p.  132.    Ash  town  is  cloae  to  the  Piiconix  Park. 


APPENDIX. 


781 


entailed  estate,  by  the  late  act  of  presumppcon,  is  vested  in  trustees  foT 
forfieted  estates  in  Ireland,  and  the  said  Richard  rightfully  entitled 
thereunto  by  virtue  of  the  said  wiU  :  That  the  said  Richard  is  left  a 
destitute  orphan,  w^J  support  or  ffriend,  and  his  relations,  who  are  all 
Roman  Catholicks  of  good  estate  in  the  aforesd  kingdom,  do  neglect 
him  as  being  educated  in  the  Protestant  religion,  so  that  he  is  left  in 
A  wry  deplorable  condition  :  Therefore  yr  Pet1-  doth  humbly  pray  this 
tlonble.  House  will  be  pleased  to  take  his  case  into  consideracon,  by 
granting  a  clause  or  provision  for  the  said  orphan,  according  to  the 
nature  of  his  case,  in  such  bill  as  shall  be  thought  fit  to  be  brought  into 
tliis  llonble.  House  for  the  relief  of  those  Protestant  sufferers  who  were 
to  take  in  their  address  the  last  session,  or  otherwise  to  ordn  the  same 
as  to  your  great  wisdom  shall  seem  meet.  And  your  petitionr  shall 
ever  pray,  &c  Anne  Hardpenny. 

Endorsed— <;  Mrs  Hardpenny,  No.  62." 

That  yr  Petr,  Mrs  Hardpenny,  hath  affirmed  to  us  that  ye  contents 
of  y«  pet"  are  true.  We  find  that  Maurice  Connell,  who  stands  out- 
lawed as  sett  forth  in  the  pet",  never  owned  his  marriage  publiekly, 
but  was  kept  secret  from  his  friends. 

(Carte  Papers,  v,  113,  p.  67,  67a.) 


No.  2. 

CASE  op  Richard  Connell,  an  orphan.   (British  Museum.) 
That  the  said  Richard  is  grandson  of  Jeffrey  Connell,  Esq  and  the 
legitimate  son  of  Colonel  Maurice  Connell,  late  of  Ivragagh,  in  the 
county  of  Kerry,  in  the  kingdom  of  Ireland,  who  was  slam  at  the  battle 
of  Aughrim,  in  the  year  1C90  (1). 

That  the  said  Colonel  Connell  was  possessed  of  an  estat  of  £000  r 
rtMT  f1ip  (>itv  0f  Dublin,  called  Ashtower,  being  a  Iree  gift  unto 

S,  his  MajJ  by  the  said  Coionel,  »»  was  0„uaweJ  j*- 
mortem. 


782 


APPENDIX. 


That  the  said  Richard  is  the  only  surviving  son  of  the  said  Colonel 
Maurice  Connell  by  Catherine  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Sir  Edward 
Langton,  and  has  been  bred  up  a  Protestant  by  Mrs  Hardpenny,  who 
hath  had  the  care  of  him  from  his  infancy.  The  truth  of  all  which 
appears  by  affidavit. 

That  the  said  estate,  by  the  late  Act  of  Parliament,  is  vested  in  the 
trustees  for  forfeited  estates  in  Ireland,  and  the  said  Richard  lawfully 
entitled  thereto  by  the  said  will. 

That  the  said  Richard  is  left  a  destitute  orphan,  without  support  or 
friends,  his  relations,  who  are  Roman  Catholics  of  good  estate  in  the 
aforesaid  kingdom,  neglecting  him  as  being  educated  in  the  Protestant 
religion. 

That  the  last  sessions  of  Parliament  the  said  Anne  Hardpenny  peti- 
tioned in  behalf  of  the  said  Richard,  and  was  referred  to  the  trustees 
for  forfeited  estates,  who  reported  the  allegations  of  the  petition  to  be 
true,  whereupon  the  said  petition  and  the  report,  amongst  others,  was 
further  referred  to  a  committee  of  this  Honourable  House,  who,  after 
due  examination,  ordered  the  same  to  be  considered  in  order  to  a  settle- 
ment on  the  said  orphan. 

Therefore,  it  is  humbly  prayed  that  this  Honourable  House  will  be 
pleased  to  take  his  case  into  consideration,  by  granting  a  clause  or  pro- 
vision for  the  said  orphan,  according  to  the  nature  and  singularity  of  his 
case,  in  such  bill  as  shall  be  thought  fit  to  be  brought  into  this  Honour- 
able House  for  the  relief  of  those  petitioners  whose  cases  were  resolved 
to  be  redressed  here  the  last  session. 


No.  3. 

INQUISITION  on  the  ATTAINDER  op  Colonel  Maurice 

Connell.    (Public  Record  Office,  Dublin.) 

By  inquisition,  taken  at  Tralee  on  the  1st  August  1G96,  on  the  attain- 
der of  Maurice  Connell  of  Ballynehaw,  he  was  found  to  have  been  pos- 
sessed in  fee  of  the  lands  of  Keenagh  (1260  acres),  Bally  McZorin  (310 
acres),  Skylalrig  and  Bralrig  (240  acres),  Drumikeare  (389  acres),  Kan- 
burn,  Bally nagleiig  (3  carrucates),  Ballynehaw  (1014  acres),  Caherlear- 
ing,  all  in  the  Barony  of  Iveragh. 


APPENDIX. 


783 


No.  4. 

EPITOME  or  WILL  or  John  Connell  of  Ashtown.  (Public 

Record  Office.) 

My  nephew  Jeffrey  Connell  shall  hold  Ballynehaw  during  his  natural 
life,  said  land  to  go  at  his  death  to  my  heir  hereinafter  named.  My 
brother  Charles  shall  hold  all  lands  now  in  his  possession  during  his 
natural  life,  same  after  to  his  wife  for  her  life,  and  after  their  deaths, 
Ballynagleragli  and  Canburren,  to  my  said  heir,  being  his  ancient 
patrimony.  I  make  Maurice,  son  to  Jeffrey  Connell,  my  sole  heir,  and 
lor  want  of  heirs  to  him,  John  his  second  brother,  and  for  want  of  heirs 
to  him,  my  nephew  Richard  and  his  heirs,  and  for  want  of  heirs  to  him, 
my  nephew  John,  brother  to  said  Richard,  and  his  heirs,  and  for  want 
of  heirs  to  him,  my  nephew  Maurice,  and  for  want  of  heirs  to  him,  my 
right  heir.    Dated  17th  January  1680. 

Recites  that,  by  deed  of  23d  December  1680,  he  conveyed  all  his 
estates,  real  and  personal,  to  Sir  Valentine  Browne  and  Stephen  Rice, 
upon  the  trusts  of  his  will. 

Probate  to  Sir  Val.  Browne,  Maurice  the  heir  being  under  age. 


No.  5. 

EPITOME  of  CLAIM  of  Maurice  Connell  of  Denmanihan, 
Co.  Kerry. 

Recites  will  of  John  of  Ashtown.  States  that  he  (Maurice)  is  heir  in 
remainder  to  said  John,  by  the  name  of  his  nephew  ;  that  Jeffrey  Con- 
nell died  in  August  last  ;  Charles,  brother  of  John,  is  still  alive  ;  that 
Maurice,  son  of  Jeffrey,  entered  into  possession  of  the  lands,  and  con- 
7?yed  away  Ashtown  and  Irishtown  ;  and  that  he  and  his  brother  John 
died  before  the  Articles  of  Limerick,  without  issue  ;  and  so  did  Richard 
ale  ut  1693.  John,  the  brother  of  Richard,  alive,  and  has  no  issue. 
Claimant  is  adjudged  within  the  Articles  of  Limerick  that  Maurice,  the 
son  of  Jeffrey,  and  his  brother  John,  were  attainted  of  high  treason. 

This  cliim  was  referred  to  a  commission,  consisting  of  Messrs  Denny, 
Eateman,  Blennerhassett,  Chute,  and  White,  who  sat  at  Tralee  and 
decided  that  it  was  untenable.  John,  the  third  son  of  Geoffrey  of 
Ballynehaw  or  Larnons,  also  preferred  a  claim  under  the  same  will. 

The  Court  of  Claims  sat  from  1693  to  1703  at  Chichester  House, 
Dublin. 


784 


APPENDIX. 


O'CONNELL'S  DUEL  WITH  D'ESTEEEE. 

My  uncle,  the  late  Maurice  Leyne,  barrister-at-law,  was  present  at  the 
duel.  He  was  then  a  student  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  He  told  me 
that  when  it  became  necessary  for  O'Connell  to  leave  the  field,  his 
friends  proceeded  to  the  high  road  to  seek  a  vehicle,  and  that,  seeing 
none,  they  called  upon  a  gentleman,  who  rode  up  at  the  moment,  to 
give  them  his  horse,  which  he  did.  He  turned  out  to  be  the  late  Mr 
Henry  M'Can  of  Tralee,  who  was  on  his  way  from  that  town  to  Dublin. 
He  was,  of  course,  most  glad  to  render  a  service  to  the  Liberator,  who 
mounted  the  horse  and  rode  off.  Mr  M'Can  was  the  father  of  the  late 
lamented  secretary  to  the  Grand  Jury,  and  himself  held  that  post  for 
some  years. 

The  following  refers  to  the  duel  between  John  O'Connell  of  Grena  and 
Eichard  Blennerhassett,  which  took  place  on  the  19th  January  1813. 
It  is  taken  from  a  note-book  of  my  grandfather,  Maurice  Leyne,  M.D. 
"  Attended  John  O'Connell  of  Grena  from  the  19th  January  1813,  when 
he  received  a  desperate  wound  in  a  duel  which  he  fought  with  Eichard 
Blennerhassett  at  Crotto,  to  the  12th  March  1813.  May  5.— Saw  him  at 
Grena,  when  an  abscess  was  formed  in  his  neck  very  near  the  incision 
made  by  Surgeon  Crumpe  on  Friday,  March  5th,  for  the  purpose  of 
extracting  the  ball,  which  he  succeeded  in  doing.  The  ball  was  very 
large,  jagged,  angular,  and  in  one  part  lengthened  and  pointed  like  a 
spear.  It  lay  deep  at  the  left  side  of  the  wind-pipe,  and  in  contact  with 
the  trunk  of  the  left  carotid  artory." 


O'CONNELL'S  LAST  VISIT  TO  DAEEYNANE. 

I  was  one  of  those  who  accompanied  the  Liberator  in  September  1846 
in  hi.?  last  visit  to  Darrynane.  I  met  him  in  Limerick,  where  he  waa 
entertained  at  a  public  dinner.  A  lady  who  came  with  me — a  relative 
most  lovingly  attached  to  him — was  sadly  moved  by  the  alteration  she 
perceived  in  his  appearance  since  the  last  time  she  saw  him  in  1843.  I 
also  noticed  the  change.  He  stooped,  though  not  mii",h,  and  the  old 
and  remarkable  elasticity  of  step  gone,  he  almost  shuffled  along  the 
passage  as  he  hurried  to  greet  my  companion. 

The  party  started  next  morning  for  Darrynane,  via  Killarney.  Tom 


APPENDIX. 


785 


Steele  accompanied  us  as  far  as  Newcastle,  where  we  stopped  for  a  con- 
•iderable  time,  the  Liberator  calling  on  the  Very  Rev.  Dean  Coll,  the 
parish  priest.  Tom  Steele  and  I  went  with  him.  After  we  had  been 
in  the  Dean's  drawing-room  for  a  short  time,  Tom  whispered  to  me, 
*  My  young  friend,  it  is  more  than  possible  that  the  august  Liberator 
<••:.- ires  to  discuss  with  my  venerable  and  sainted  friend,  Dean  Coll, 
matters  of  the  most  sublime  importance  ;  and  I  think  you  and  I  should 
therefore  take  leave  of  the  Very  Reverend  Dean,  and  leave  him  and 
OCunnell  to  discuss  the  affairs  of  Ireland."  So  Tom  and  I  returned  to  the 
fa  h  i,  where  Ave  awaited  the  Liberator.  Shortly  after  leaving  Killarney 
the  next  morning,  the  Liberator  said  to  me  (he  and  I  were  the  only  occu- 
pants of  the  back  part  of  the  Repeal  coach),  "  Tell  me,  my  dear,  when 
it  is  twelve  o'clock."  When  that  hour  arrived,  I  informed  him  of  it. 
He  took  off  his  travelling  cap,  while  he  blessed  himself  reverently,  and 
then  repeated  to  himself  what  I  knew  to  be  the  Angelus.  He  talked  a 
great  deal,  and  told  me  numberless  stories  about  the  localities  through 
which  we  passed,  and  the  inhabitants,  rich  and  poor,  and  expressed 
nnbounded  admiration  of  the  lovely  view  from  the  "police  barrack 
road."  When  we  were  between  West  Cove  and  Darrynane,  a  very 
serious  incident  occurred.  The  district  doctor  met  us  in  his  gig  in  a 
narrow  part  of  the  road,  and,  while  hat  in  hand  he  greeted  the  Libera- 
tor with  a  cheer,  forgot  to  guide  his  horse,  who,  wandering  into  the 
middle  of  the  way,  forced  the  postillions  of  the  coach  into  the  side  of  the 
road,  where  the  ground  was  so  very  soft,  that  the  wheels  in  a  moment 
sank  over  the  axles  into  the  earth.  The  coach  toppled  over  so  as  nearly 
to  be  overturned,  and  the  Liberator  uttered  a  cry.  I  at  once  jumped 
from  the  roof  to  the  ground,  and  seizing  a  ladder,  placed  it  against  the 
coach,  so  that  he  could  descend,  whieh  he  did.  When  all  was  right, 
and  we  were  again  on  our  way  to  Darrynane  House,  he  thanked  me 
fur  what  I  had  done,  and  complimented  me  on  my  promptness  and 
activity.  I  was  greatly  moved  by  the  sense  of  the  peril  though  which 
I  believe  he  passed,  for  if  the  coach  had  been  overturned,  1  am  sure 
that,  considering  his  then  condition  of  health,  the  consequenco3  to  him 
ought  have  beeu  very  disastrous. 


In  Munster  the  O'Connells  gave  their  name  to  the  extensive  district 
of  Hv-Conal-Uarva,  comprising  nearly  the  whole  barony  of  Connelloe, 

3  D 


786 


APPENDIX. 


while  in  Scotland  they  are  traced  in  the  branches  and  achievements  of 

the  MacConnells,  Lords  of  the  isles. 

a.d.  355. — Conal  of  the  Swift  Horses  was  King  of  Munster. 

432.— Conal  was  one  of  the  first  princes  baptized  by  St  Patrick. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  English,  the  ancestors  of  the  Earl  of 
Desmond  acquired  large  possessions  in  Limerick,  Cork,  and  Kerry  j 
among  others  Connelloe,  stated  to  contain  upwards  of  100,000  acres,  and 
to  have  been  ceded  by  the  sept  of  O'Connell  in  consideration  of  grants 
in  Kerry  and  Clare. 

1453. — A  survey  was  made,  entitled  the  Rentyll  de  O'Connell,  com- 
piled to  show  the  extent  and  services  of  the  ancient  seignory  of  the 
O'Connell  family,  such  as  acres  of  mines  then  wrought  there. 

1646.— Richard  O'Connell,  Bishop  of  Ardfert. 

1650.— John  O'Connell,  Bishop  of  Ardfert,  author  of  "The  Dirge  of 
Ireland." 

1667. — John  O'Connell,  styled  by  Lord  Orrery  a  "notorious  rogue 
and  Tory,"  taken  by  his  orders  in  the  county  Limerick.  Being  led  by 
a  rope,  he  jumped  down  a  high  bank  and  got  away.  Lord  Orrery  had 
him  taken  afterwards  in  Kerry,  "after  mass  was  done."  In  the  records 
alter  the  rebellion  of  1641,  there  are  various  documents  relating  to  the 
rights  and  properties  of  the  O'Connell  families  and  others,  that  evidence 
their  attachment  to  the  Stuarts  in  the  year  1688. — (John  Dalton  in 
Hibernian  Magazine.) 

The  progenitor  of  the  O'Connells  was  Conaire  II.,  King  of  Ireland  at 
the  commencement  of  the  first  century,  through  Carbrie  Riada  (called 
Reuda  by  Venerable  Bede),  Prince  of  West  Munster,  and  son  of  that 
monarch  by  his  wife,  daughter  of  Coer  of  the  Hundred  Battles. 

The  O'Connells  were  part  proprietors,  with  the  OTalveys  and  others, 
of  the  territory  of  Corca  Dhubue.  Shortly  anterior  to  the  English 
in  vasion,  they  possessed  the  barony  of  Magouiby  ;  but  about  the  eleventh 
century  the  Ui  Donchadha  (O'Donoghues)  settled  in  Magouiby,  and 
drove  the  O'Connells  into  Iveragh,  where  they  were  seated  at  Bally- 
carleerj-,  near  Cahirciveen. — ("  Book  of  Rights,"  note.) 

The  O'Connells  were  High  Chiefs  of  Magle  O'g-Couchiun  (Magouiby). 
— ("  Battle  of  Magh-Lena,"  note.) 


APPENDIX. 


785 


LANDS  HELD  BY  THE  O'CONNELLS  ABOUT  THE 
YEAR  1632.    (Sir  William  Petty.) 

Parish  of  Cahir, 

Maurice  of  Calherlearnagh,  Peter,  and  John.— Cohanebanachane ;  Clag. 
han  M'Quin  (now  Castlequin)  ;  Keanlewoun,  1570  acres;  Caliir- 
civccn,  100  acres  ;  Garrane,  West,  and  Broome. 

Parish  of  Valentia. 
Peter  O'Connell  and  Murragli  MaeOwen. — Enery  ;  Cnoile. 

Parish  of  Killcuilagh. 

Maurice    O'Connell.  —  Ballynaglerig  ;    Ballynehaw  ;    Killonagha  ; 

Juisto  ;  Tfearglinalias  ;  Puffin  Island  ;  Kilkeoeragh  ;  Pattikeane. 
Daniel  M'Geoffrey  and  Maurice  O'Connell. — Agliort,  132  acres. 

Parish  of  Killer ane. 
Maurice  O'Connell  of  Caherlearnagh.— Ballynehaw,  640  acres ;  265 
acres  ;  103  acres. 

Parish  of  Dromod. 

Maurice  and  Murragh  O'Connell.— Kuiagh,  620  acres 

John  O'Connell  of  Dublin.— Dromeragh  ;  Killinactoine  and  Malin ; 

Skylaluff  ;  Bryalugg  ;  Kanigg. 
Maurice  O'Connell.  —  Ilaneboy,   1168  acres;    Caherlearnagh,  300 

acres  ;  Murisk,  1130  acres  ;  Spunkane,  560  acres. 
Charles  O'Connell,  Shily  ni  Dermod,and  John  0'ConnelL— Ikneboy, 

1060  acres  (part  of). 
John  O'Connell  of  Dublin.— Barkeenagh,  2415  acres. 
Maurice  O'Connell— Inneshlusmul'oy  ;  Drumlaghort. 


THOMAS  MOORE  ON  O'CONNELL. 
"Feb.  1831.— In  leaving  Bangor,  where  we  dined,  were  joined  by  a 
gentleman  and  his  wife  ;  proved  to  be  Staunton,  editor  of  the  Dublin 
Morni.uj  Register.  Gave  me  the  first  intelligence,  which  he  had  himself 
fast  received  of  the  arrangement  between  O'Connell  and  the  Govern- 
ment on  the  subject  of  the  pending  trials  ;  seemed  to  think  it  very 


788 


ArrjLNDIX. 


much  of  a  giving-in  on  the  part  of  his  brother  agitators,  and  waa 
evidently  not  a  little  pleased  at  it.  Said  they  had  been  driving  the 
machine  too  fast,  and  had  come  to  a  point  where  it  was  necessary,  for 
their  own  and  the  country's  safety,  to  pull  up.  He  had  himself  been 
obliged  to  come  to  Wales  out  of  the  way  of  the  law,  and  was  now 
returning,  as  he  told  me,  to  avail  himself  of  the  amnesty  he  seemed  to 
anticipate  for  all  agitators.  .  .  .  Same  conversation  with  old  Peter 
Burrowes.  Agreed  with  me  in  opinion  that  O'Connell  had  done  more 
harm  to  the  cause  of  liberty  in  Ireland  than  its  real  friends  could  repair 
within  the  next  half  century,  and  mentioned  what  Grattan  had  said  of 
him,  that  '  he  was  a  bad  subject  and  a  worse  rebel.'  This  is  admirable, 
true  to  the  life,  and  in  Grattan's  happiest  manner.  The  lurking  appre- 
ciation of  a  good  rebel  which  it  implies  is  full  of  humour.  .  .  .  When 
O'Connell,  in  his  last  speech  on  Sunday,  said,  '  I  am  open  to  convic- 
tion,' some  one  in  the  crowd  said, 1  And  to  judgment,  I  hope,'  (in  allu- 
feian  to  the  trials  he  had  slipped  himself  out  of).  .  .  .  Called  upon  Mr 

 ,  the  editor  of  the  Freeman's  Journal.  .  .  .  Talked  of  the  Repeal 

question.  .  .  .  Told  him  frankly,  and  at  some  length,  my  opinion  of  the 
injury  that  has  been  done  to  the  cause  of  Irish  liberty  by  this  premature 
and  most  ill-managed  eH'ort  of  O  Conneirs.  Time,  and  the  spirit  rising 
in  England,  as  well  as  all  over  Europe,  is  fast  ripening  that  general 
feeling  of  independence,  of  which  Ireland,  at  her  own  time,  may  take 
advantage.  The  same  principle  is  also  in  full  progress  towards  remv>v« 
ing,  without  any  effort  of  hers,  some  of  the  worst  grievances  that  weigh 
her  down.  The  Church,  for  instance,  which  would  be  just  now  fought 
for  against  any  such  attack  as  O'Connell's,  with  the  whole  Protestant 
fore;-  of  the  Empire,  would,  if  left  to  the  natural  opposition  of  the 
revolution  principle,  be  put  aside  in  due  time  without  any  difficulty, 
England  herself  leading  the  way  by  getting  rid  of,  or  at  least  loweringj 
her  own  Establishment.  Th>s  was  the  great  struggle  for  which  the 
energies  of  Ireland  ought  to  have  been  reserved.  In  assailing  the  enor- 
mous abuses  of  the  Irish  Establishment,  Catholics  would  have  been 
joined  by  Dissenters,  and  in  the  pursuit  of  this  common  object,  that 
amalgamation  would  have  taken  place  between  them,  that  nationalised 
fueling,  without  which  (as  O'Connell's  failure  has  shown)  it  is  in  vain 
to  think  of  making  head  against  England.  ...  To  the  castle  at  sevow. 
Lord  Anglesey  leaned  upon  me  in  to  dinner.  .  .  .  Abundance  of  conver- 
sation between  us  about  the  slate  of  Ireland,  O'Connell  ....  ifcc.  &C." 


APPENDIX. 


783 


*  Sept.  1830.— Cassidy  showed  me  a  letter  to  him  from  O'Connell  on 
the  proposed  system  of  agitation,  which  he  had  just  answered,  telling 
O'Connell  that  he  thought  the  Repeal  of  the  Union  ought  not  yet  to  be 
brought  forward  .  .  .  that  if  the  question  of  Repeal  was  to  be  urged,  he 
(O'Connell)  would  do  it  more  harm  than  good  by  putting  himself  at  the 
head  of  it." 

"  ISth  May  1829. — Went  to  the  House  of  Commons  early.  .  .  .  An 
immense  crowd  in  the  lobby,  Irish  agitators,  &c.  The  House  enormously 
full.    O'Connell's  speech  good  and  judicious. 

"  \9th. — Called  upon  O'Connell  to  wish  him  joy  of  the  success  of  his 
speech  ;  told  him  how  much  Lord  Lansdowne  was  delighted  with  it." 

u  Feb.  1820.— Thence  to  call  on  O'Connell  at  Batt's.  The  waiter  told 
me  that  there  came  about  forty  or  fifty  poor  devils  of  Irish  there  every 
day  with  petitions  to  the  great  Dan.  Found  O'Connell,  Mr  Bellew,  Sir 
T.  Esmonde,  O'Gorman,  and  a  priest.  O'Connell,  showing  me  a  packet 
just  arrived  from  Charleston  with  contributions  said,  '  It  is  these  things 
have  done  it.'  ...  He  then  proceeded  to  say  that  the  case  reminded 
him  of  his  youtnful  days,  when  he  was  a  great  visitor  of  the  theatre, 
and  when,  being  always  of  an  aspiring  disposition,  he  used  to  choose  the 
loftiest  situation  in  the  house  ;  that  there  he  used  to  observe  that  the 
gratuitous  part  of  the  audience  were  the  most  clamorous  and  applau- 
sive ;  and  accordingly  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  <  if  free  admissions 
were  not  allowed,  not  only  would  the  theatre  be  proportionately  thinner, 
but  (what  would  be  a  serious  grievance)  bad  acting  would  go  without 
applause.'— Memoirs  dcc.t  by  Lord  John  Russell, 


JOHN  BURKE. 
In  the  Kerry  Magazine  for  September  1G56,  there  is  a  short  memoir 
of  John  Burke,  who  was  born  in  Tralee  about  the  year  1744.  He  went 
to  Sorbonne  for  his  education,  but  on  his  return  to  Ireland  became  a 
classical  teacher  He  succeeded  admirably,  but  a  jealous  rival  threatened 
to  ruin  him  by  enforcing  the  Act  of  Parliament  which  forbade  the  Irish 
either  to  teach  or  to  be  taught.  Such  was  the  miserable  state  oi  Ireland. 
Burke  was  then  engaged  by  Mr  Morgan  O'Connell  of  Iveragh,  privately, 
to  educate  his  sons  as  far  as  he  dare.  The  remote  locality  in  which 
he  lived  favoured  concealment  and  Mr  Burke  taught  the  joung 


790 


APPENDIX, 


O'Conneil  and  his  brothers  for  several  years  before  they  went  to  St 

Omer. 

Burke  was  eventually  appointed  hearth  collector,  and  died  on  the  I2tli 
October  1799,  at  Liscarroll,  in  the  county  Cork. 

The  information  contained  in  this  note  was  not  received  in  time  for 
the  earlier  part  of  this  work.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr  Hugh  Burke,  ol 
the  Custom  House,  Dublin,  for  this  information.  This  gentleman  ia 
a  grand-nephew  of  the  Mr  Burke  to  whom  O'Conneil  was  indebted  for 
his  earliest  education* 


INDEX. 


ABBET,  Mount  MelTeray,  and  its  monks, 

629 ;  receives  O'Conuell,  632. 
Act.  tiie,  of  the  6th  George  I.,  repeal 

of,  145,  146. 
Agitators,  the,  and  the  Government, 

i  & 

Altai  nont,  Earl  of,  and  his  associates, 

21 2. 

Alvunley,  Lord,  and  0*Connell,  612, 
613. 

America,  English  contempt  for,  05,  97; 
Chatham  on,  96;  Johnson  on,  97; 
first  Congress,  97  ;  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, 9S  ;  and  Ireland,  98  ;  ap- 
peals to  Ireland,  99  ;  Irishmen  in,  99, 
1(0. 

Anecdotes,  Maurice  O'Connell  and  the 
unshaven  s  ddier,  30  ;  Dr  Smith  and 
O'Connell's   grandfather,  31 ;  the 
Grekgh  receiving  sentence  of  death,  | 
39;  Denis  O'Brien  and  the  judge, 
40;  O'Connell  and  the  Tralee  ballad- 
siugt-rs,    41  ;    Father  O'Grady  and 
Denis  Ifahony,  43 ;  Father  O'Grady 
charged    with    being    a  "Popish 
priest,"  44;  O'Connell  and  his  sen- 
6iriveness  to  disgrace,  46  ;  O'Connell 
mistaken   for  an  Englishman,  48; 
Louis  XVI.,  G8  ;  schoolboy  quarrel  at 
St  Omer,  70;  John  Sheares  and  the 
hangman,  70 ;    the  O'Connells  and 
the  tricolor  cockades,  84  ;  Britain 
beaten  by  tailors  and  cobblers,  97  ; 
Thompson,    the  Irish  Secretary  of 
Congress,  and  Franklin,  99  ;  O'Con- 
nell and  Cousin  Kane,  113 ;  "  had 
they  portablo  water?"  116;  Lord 
Cluumel  and  bookseller  Byrne,  143 ; 


"scoundrel  enough  to  die  or  no*, 

as  it  suits  him,"  143;  "would  r::thei 
be  a  chimney-sweeper,''  143:  Lord 
Clcnmel  and  the  Broinaduif  pro- 
perty, 144;  the  honest  Protestant 
barber,  144;  "the  Canny"  and  the 
scourges,  193;  Mrs  Leadbetter  and 
the  soldiers,  193,  194  ;  the  "slure 
of  a  pint  of  whisky,"  202  ;  Checkhy 
and  the  witness  to  an  alibi,  503,  201 ; 
O'Grady  and  the  noisy  court-house, 
205,  O'Grady  and  the  stuffed  owl, 
205;  O'Grady  and  Purcell O'Gonnan, 
206  ;  O'Gorman  convicted  of  melo- 
dious practices,  200;  lesson  in  cow- 
stealing  r/ratis,  207 ;  Jack  of  the 
Roads,  208  :  O'Connell,  Gradv,  and 
the  corporal,  208,  209  ;  Grady  and 
the  five  soldiers.  210  ;  O'Connell  and 
the  will  case,  249  :  Lord  Norbury  and 
his  "racket  court,"  249;  his  lord- 
ship and  the  case  against  Sterne,  250 ; 
"Ay,  give  him  rope  enough,"  2~0  ; 
Lord  Norbury  bearded  by  O'Connell. 
251,  252  ;  O'Connell  and  the  grate- 
ful   highwayman,  253  ;  O'Connell 
and  the  blockhead  bankrupt,  254; 
O'Connell  and  Sergeant  Lefroy,  259, 
260;  Lord  Flunket  and  the  kites, 
261;  Curran  and  Lord  Clare,  261  ; 
Curran  and  Judge  Robinson,  201  ; 
Croker  and  the  dwarf  O'Learv,  261; 
Croker  and  Tom  Goold,  261  :  O'Con- 
nell and  Judge  Day,  262  ;  Bullv  Egan, 
262 ;  Judge  Boyd  and  Grady,  263  ; 
O'Connell  and  Baron  M'Cleland,  263  ; 
Parsons  and  his  hatred  of  attorneys, 
263,  264;  Judge  Foster  and  Denia 


792 


Halligan,  264  ;  Mrs  O'Connell,  when 
a  girl,  and  Hands  the  jailer,  266  ; 
"  My  Mary  cross?"  266  ;  O'Connell's 
fondness  for  his  children,  266,  267  ; 
Judge  Finucaneand  the  schoolmaster 
O'Connor,  26^,  269  ;  John  Keogh  and 
Pitt,  308,  309  ;  Captain  Grose  and 
the  butcher,  320  ;  Jerry  Keller  and 
Baron  Smith,  390  ;  Jerry  and  Nor- 
cott.  390  ;  Lord  Clare  and  suicide  of 
Baron  Power,  391  ;  suicide  of  Croshie 
Morgan,  392 ;  Barnewell  and  the 
lottery  ticket,  393  ;  O'Connell  and 
the  hank  notes.  393,  394  ;  O'Grady 
at  the  play,  394;  Parson  Hawkes- 
worth  and  his  lady,  395  ;  the  two 
brothers  and  Judge  Day,  396  ;  the 
eldest  brother  and  the  jailer,  397  ; 
the  old  Dublin  Evening  Post  and  the 
Kerry  lad,  398,  399:  O'Connell's 
power  of  attention,  404  :  O'Connell 
and  Mr  Hedges  Eyre.  404,  405  ;  the 
physician  and  his  expenses  as  a  wit- 
i  ess,  405  ;  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and 
Dr  Milner,  425,  426;  the  Duke  of 
Leinster  and  the  Jesuits,  429  ;  Peel 
and  Dr  Kenny,  429.  430;  Lord 
Chatham  and  the  English  funds, 
430;  Bagenal  at  seventy-eight,  433; 
Bagenal  and  Queen  Charlotte,  434  ; 
D'Esterre  with  the  rope  round  his 
neck,  436;  Judge  Day  and  Barney 
Coile,  440,  441  ;  O'Connell  and 
Major  M'Namara,  441,  442  ;  O'Con- 
nell and  Jerry  MacCarthy,  442; 
O'Connell  and  George  IV,  475  ;  Mr 
Fox,  Mrs  Fitzherbert,  and  George  IV., 
476  ;  the  Duke  of  Wellington  and  the 
Beefsteak  Club.  479;  O'Connell  and 
Flood,  487,  488  ;  "  very  sore  at 
heart,"  489  ;  Dr  Doyle  examining:  the 
Lord's  Committee,  528;  Lord  Angle- 
sea  and  his  lifc-preservei',  563.  504 ; 
O'Connell  and  Dohevty,  578  ;  O'Con- 
nell and  the  soul  <>f  Henry  VII.,  606  ; 
O'Connell  and  die  guide  at  Canter- 
buiy  Cathedral,  607,  608  ;  O'Connell 
and  Mi  Raphael,  610  ;  O'Connell  and 
Sergeant  Ryan,  631  ;  O'Connell  and 
the  Repealers  at  Cork,  <IS1  ■  and  the 
Repealers  at  Limerick,  681  ;  M'Nally 
ami  Parsons,  682;  the  Irish  priest 
and  the  peer,  (586  ;  O'Connell  and 
Joseph  Pease.  690 ;  O'Connell  and 
the  rising  of  the  nation,  726  ;  O'Con- 
nell in  pi  ison  and  the,  noble  lord, 
730. 


Anglesea,  Marquis  of,  and  Dr  Doyle, 

527 ;  and  the  monster  meeting  at 
Ennis,  548  ;  advice  to  the  Catholics, 
and  recall,  563  ;  his  unpopularity, 
563  ;  and  his  stick,  564  ;  proclama- 
tions against  repeal,  595;  and  the  old 
ascendency,  595  ;  tranquillising  Ire- 
land, 596. 

An ti -Union,  the,  its  chief  contributors, 
229. 

Aristocracy,  the  Irish  Catholic,  moral 
cowardice,  in  connection  with  the 
Catholic  claims,  434,  435 ;  and 
O'Connell,  469. 

Association,  the  Catholic  (the  first), 
action  of  Government  to  suppress, 

331,  332  ;  first  interference  with, 

332,  333 ;  and  Mr  Pole,  333.  334  ; 
second  attempt  to  dissolve,  341  ;  ob- 
ject of,  342  ;  further  interference 
with,  343-347;  (the  second)  projected, 
490;  its  organisation,  491  ;  first  meet- 
ing, 4^2,  493  ;  difficulties  at  first  in 
mustering  a  quorum,  493;  anecdote 
of  O'Connell,  494 ;  budget,  494  ;  the 
principal  difficulty  connected  with 
it,  495 ;  grand  aggregate  meeting, 
497,  498  ;  King's  speech  on,  500  ;  bill 
brought  in  to  suppress,  501.  ;  alarm 
as  to  supposed  diabolical  aim  of,  501, 
502  ;  accused  of  levying  an  unauthor- 
ised tax,  f)03  ;  Lord  Brougham  on, 
504  ;  Edinbuvijh  Review  on  its  depu- 
tation to  London,  504  ;  a  new,  formed, 
508  ;  its  progi^amme,  508,  509  ;  com- 
mittee of  deliberation,  512 ;  first 
great  meeting,  513. 

Bagrnal,  King,  his  duelling  propensi- 
ties and  devotion  to  good  cheer,  433, 
434. 

Bar,  the,  and  the  Union,  220-228. 
Barnewell,  and  the  ]ottery-ticket,  393. 
Barrett,  Mr.  533,  713. 
Bathiirst,  Archdeacon,  and  Pepoal,  709, 
Bavaria,  King  of,  letter  on  O'Connell 
694. 

Beauforts,   the,    of  Waterford,  and 

O'Connell.  581.  582. 
Bentinck,  Lord  George,  bill  of,  751. 
Beresfords,  the,  169,  171,  226. 
Berkeley  on  the  Irish  aristocracy,  384. 
Bill,  the  Coercion,  passed.  603  ;  Pal- 

merston  on,  603 ;  compensation  for, 

605. 

Bi .  marck,  and  his  politics,  xxvii. 
Borough-mongering,  219,  220. 


INDEX. 


793 


Boyd,  Judge,  and  Gradv,  262,  263. 
Bribeiy,  parliamentary,  147;   of  the  i 

press,  148,  149  ;  by  granting  peerages 

■ad  money.  151,  152 ;   Grattau  on 

system  of.  151,  152 ;  21S. 
Bii  ade.  r lie  Irish,   thanks  of  Louis 

XVIII.  to,  63-  Duke  of  Fitz-Janies 

am,  W  ;  and  Lord  Castlereagh,  53.  j 
Bru  us  wickers,  the,  aud  the  Lord-Lieu-  1 

tenant,  560. 
1;  r^oyne,  General,   letters    of,  146. 

147. 

Bitrkc,  on  the  state  of  France,  67;  at  the 
•  klti.te  on  the  Stamp-duties,  91  ;  on 
the  Americans,  92,  93  ;  his  hrother 
I  >ick,  1  117;  on  relaxing  the  penal 
code,  1.13,  134.  j 

Buike,  William,  the  Doueraile  courier, 
576. 

Burton.  Judge,  712.  718. 
Lute,  Ear]  of.  and  George  III.,  89  ;  his 

administration,  90. 
Butt,  Isaac,  note  by,  701,  702. 
Byron,  Lord,  on  George  IV.  and  his 

welcome  in  Ireland,  4/7. 

Cambridge,  Duke  of,  on  the  Irish, 
749. 

Camden,  "the  cold  and  cruel,"  415, 
416. 

Canning  in  power,  514  ;  death  of,  519. 

Capel,  Lord,  viceroyship,  21. 

Capes,  Air,  his  article  in  the  Cuntan- 
jiorary  Rcvieio,  xvii.  ;  his  preface  to 
the  life  of  St  Frances,  xviii. 

Caroline,  Princess,  and  the  Peeresses, 
128;  as  Queen,  refused  coronation, 
469;  death  and  burial,  470,  471. 

Castlereagh,  Lord,  on  the  unconstitu- 
tional practice  of  independent  voting, 
223 ;  on  tenderness  towards  the 
Catholics,  243  ;  "  most  private " 
letter,  on  the  necessity  of  Catholic 
support  towards  carrying  the  Union, 
;  O'Connell  on,  285,  258  ;  delibe- 
rate lie,  325. 

Catholics,  and  their  religious  rights, 
xxvi.  ;  loyalty  of,  79;  the  English 
Conservative,  SO,  81 ;  the  Irish  not 
Conservative,  81,  82  ;  the  English 
and  O'Connell,  83  :  recognition  of,  as 
British  subjects,  121  ;  conc.liation  of, 
by  Government,  125  :  deputation  of, 
witn  address  t<»  the  King.  161  ;  upper 
classes  of,  175  ;  and  the  Union,  222  ;  j 
resolutions  of  a  meeting  of,  in  Dub-  I 
lili,  2J2,  L'33  ;    systematically   de-  I 


ceived,  244  ;  and  the  Government, 
270^;  the  upper  class,  laity,  274; 
OjConnell,  on  the  e-  mancipation  of, 
278  ;  taught  by  O'Connell  to  change 
petition  into  demand,  285;  meeting 
of,  in  Dublin,  to  petition,  2S7* 
of  the  upper  class  bribed,  3  )7  ; 
lower  and  upper  classes  of,  314, 
315;  persecuted,  314-31(5 ;  entertain- 
ing Protestants,  330,  331  ;  addressing 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  384  ;  petition 
for  dismissal  of  Pole,  337;  disastrous 
political  divisions  among,  340,  341  ; 
a  triumph,  342 ;  worldiness  among 
the  English,  424,  425  ;  and  their  un- 
compromising fidelity  to  the  Church, 
461  ;  their  jealousy  of  concessions, 
461  :  fidelity  to  their  oaths,  465  ; 
and  Government  dictation,  408  ;  and 
the  English  Radicals,  477.  of  the 
upper  class  and  O'Connell,  6S5  ;  Eng- 
lish, and  O'Connell  in  prison,  731. 
Chalmers,  Dr.  on  O'Connell,  6;)5. 
Charles  I.  and  his  Irish  subjects,  119. 
Charlemont,  Lord,  his  conversion,  128, 
129  ;  his  patriotic  zeal,  133  ;  his  letter 
on  the  Whigs,  135,  136;  and  North- 
ern "Whig  Club,  159. 
Chatham,   93 ;  dying  testimony,  96 ; 

and  the  English  funds,  430. 
Checkley,  the  rogue,  203-205. 
Church,  Orders  of,  and  the  charge  of 
intellectual  inactivity,  xxxviii.  ;  the 
Catholic.  Conservative,  77,  79;  Alison 
on,  77,  78  :  Guizoton,  78;  clergy  of, 
in  France,  80;  and  her  teaching,  270, 
271 ;  learning  in,  271  ;  her  priesthood, 
272,  273  ;  granting  of  faculties  in,  466, 
Claddagh  fishermen,  the,  xii. 
Clancartv,  Lord,  and  the  "miserable" 

Irish,  546,  547. 
Clare  County,  O'Connell  stands  for, 
542,  516  ;  election  agents,  543 ;  con- 
sternation in  England,  546;  Palmer- 
ston  on  the  occasion,  54S  ;  scene  at 
the  hustings,  549,  550:  the  polling, 
551,  552;  return  of  O'Connell,  552  ; 
effect  of  the  news  in  England,  556, 
553 ;    O'Connell  uuseated  aud  re- 
elected. 569,  575. 
Clare,  Lord,  his  views  on  mixed  educa- 
tion at  Maynooth,  275,   277 ;  and 
Baron  Power,  391  ;  character,  392  ; 
opinion  of  the  Catholics.  39  !. 
Clergy,  the  Protestant,  272.  273 
Clergy,  the  Catholic,  and  or,  er.  174; 
and  the  Uuion,  220-222 ;  toe  Pro- 


704 


INDEX. 


testant  Bishop  of  Meath  on,  302, 
303  ;  soldiers  under  orders,  466,  467  ; 
and  the  riglit  of  administering  the 
last  sacrament,  467  ;  and  the  Catholic 
Association,  491,  519. 

Clifford,  Lord  de,  on  the  Union,  223. 

Clou m el,  the  Earl  of,  notices  and 
antedates  of,  143,  144. 

Club,  the  Northern  Whig,  its  esta- 
blishment and  political  prejudices, 
159,  K'iO  ;  Lord  Clare's  nickname  for, 
160  ;  demise  of,  1<  0. 

Club,  the  Beefsteak,  unheard-of  inter- 
ference with,  479  ;  their  revenge, 
460. 

Cobbett,  William,  O'Connell  on,  305, 
306. 

Coile,  Barney,  and  Judge  Day,  440, 
441. 

Colchester,  Lord,  on  O'Connell,  505, 
54S. 

College,  Trinity,  33,  34;  address  of 
students  to  Grattan,  173,  174. 

Colleges,  Irish,  on  the  Continent,  71, 
72  ;  at  Don  ay,  72. 

Convention,  the  Dungannon,  162,  163. 

Commission,  the  Devon,  741. 

Controversy,  the  Pope  and  Maguire, 
497  ;  O  Council's  remarks  at  the  dis- 
cussion, 497,  49S. 

Conway,  the  traitor,  69,  70. 

C<>oke,  Dr,  challenge  to  O'Connell, 
684. 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  and  state  of  Ireland, 
IS]  ;  and  excesses  of  the  military,  183, 
184;  accusation  against,  184;  letter 
of,  on  English  misrule,  to  Duke  of 
Poitland,  185,  386;  on  government  of 
Ireland,  21*,  219  ;  letter  to  Bishop 
of  Lichfield  on  the  state  of  Ireland, 
219  ;  on  the  agitation  against  the 
Union,  228,  229;  letter  on  behalf  of 
the  Catholic  peers,  242. 

Council,  the  Common,  timidly  petition- 
ing for  justice,  291. 

Crar..pton,  Judge,  712,  715,  718. 

Crelaghs,  the,  ofGlelicarra.  and  Morgan 
O'Connell.  38,  39  ;  one  of,  at  Tralee 
assizes,  39. 

Crime  in  England  and  Ireland,  com- 
parative summary  of  a  week's,  397, 
398. 

Cromwell,  his  Irish  policy  and  its  ef- 
fects, 187,  188. 

Ciowlcy,  Peter,  the  case  of,  234,  235.  ! 

Croker,  J   Wi'son,  anecdotes  of,  261  ;  | 
ou^govermnent  iu  Ireland,  358.  j 


Cumberland,  Duke  of,  and  Cathclio 

Emancipation,  566. 
Curran,  anecdotes  of,  261. 

Daly,  Old  Jehu,  199. 
Dan,  Father,  the  Franciscan,  and  his 

bell,  350,  352. 
Darrynane,  Abbey  of,  27,  28  ;  House, 

and  its  environs,  399,  400. 
Day,  Judge,  and  O'Connell,  253 ;  as 
judge,  261,  262  ;  and  Barney  Coile, 
440,  441. 

D'Esterre,  his  antecedents,  436  ; 
quarrel  with  O'Connell  and  its  mo- 
tive, 436,437;  parading  Dublin  with 
a  whip,  437 ;  letter  to  O'Connell 
and  reply,  438,  439;  duel  with 
O'Connell,  and  death,  441-443;  hia 
widow,  443. 
Dingle,  address  from,  and  O'Connell's 

reply.  327-329. 
D'Israeli,  and  O'Connell,  613;  O'Con- 
nell on,  613,  614  ;  and  Morgan  O'Con- 
nell, 614  ;  and  his  inextinguishable 
hatred  to  the  O'Connells,  615. 
Doherty,  Solicitor-General,  threatens 
to  wash  his  hands  of  it.  560  ;  and  the 
Doneraile  conspiracy,  576,  577  ;  his 
conduct  brought  by  O'Connell  before 
Parliament,  586 ;   appointed  Chief- 
Justice,  596,  597. 
Domville,  Sir  Compton,  defeat  of,  481, 
482. 

Doneraile,  alleged  conspiracy  of  the 
Catholics  of,  576  ;  O'Connell  at  the 
trial,  577  ;  acquittal  of  the  prisoners, 
578. 

Douay,  colleges  at,  72. 
Doyle,  Dr,  sketch  of  his  life  and  charac- 
ter, 524  ;  extract  from  "  Vindication 
of  Catholics,"  525,  526  ;  examined  by 
a  parliamentary  committee,  526  528; 
and  his  starving  countrymen,  597. 
Dublin  Erenhu/  Post,  the  old.  and  the 

Kerry  lad,  398.  399. 
Duel  between  Alcock  and  Colclough. 
433;  between  O'Connell  and  D'Es- 
terre, 441-443  ;  between  Sir  Charles 
Paxton  and  Mr  Sidwell,  447-449; 
threatened,  between  O'Connell  and 
Peel,  447,  448. 
Duelling  the  order  of  the  day,  433. 
Duffy,  Mr,  713,  728,  729,  738,  749. 
Duggan,    John,   notice    of,    and  hia 
I    notes  of  O'Connell's  last  illness,  75&- 
|  762. 

;  Dyer,  the  villain,  445-447. 


INDEX. 


795 


Enrcmow,  unequal  advantages  of 
Catholic  and  Protestant  bisk  as 
regards,  33. 

Eklon,  Lord,  O'Connell  on,  278,  324;  on 
O'Connell,  506  ;  on  the  election  of 
O'Connell,  561 ;  on  the  admission  of 
Catholics  to  Parliament,  565,  566. 

Ely.  charge  of  the  present  Bishop  of, 

Emancipation  declared  necessary,  163  ; 
O'Connell  on,  278  ;  Shelley  on,  348, 
."49 ;  George  IV.  and,  566,  591 ;  Sir 
Lytton  Buhrer  on  the  Act,  502; 
insufficient,  593 ;  only  one  act  of 
justice,  594,  595;  imminent,  561; 
achieved,  566;  clause  to  prevent 
O'Connell  taking  his  seat,  566 ;  the 
Act  disappointing,  587;  Palmerston 
and  Wellington  on,  587  ;  reasons  why 
it  should  turnout  disappointing,  589, 
590. 

England,  Church  of,  in  Ireland,  83  ; 
and  her  American  colonies,  91,  92; 
troubles  in  1775,  103,  104  ;  troubles 
in  179-V96,  107  ;  prestige  declining, 
5.'*8,  539  ;  political  discontent  in  1831, 
59S. 

Ennis,  peaceful  gathering  at,  548,  549. 
Espionage,  Government  post-office,  133, 
139. 

Eyre,  Mr  Hedges,  and  the  Papist  rascal, 
404,  405. 

Fin  gal,  Lord,  and  Mr  Hare,  343-346 ; 

arrest  of,  346,  347. 
Fitzgerald,  Bayard,  63. 
Fitzgerald,  Lord  Edward,  his  character 

and  politics,  ISO. 
Fitzgerald,  Mr  Vesey,  542.  550,  552, 

553. 

Fitzpatrick,  Mi  Hugh,  trial  of,  406- 
408. 

Fitz  .villain,  Lord,  appointment  as 
Lord- Lien  tenant,  and  recall,  165, 
166  ;  and  Government,  167-169;  aud 
the  Beresfords,  170. 

Fioo.l,  John,  his  accomplishments  and 
suspicions  doings,  486 ;  captures  a 
smuggler,  but  contradicts  his  own 
evidence  in  court,  486-488. 

Foster,  Judge,  and  Denis  Halligan,  264, 
265. 

Fox,  Charles  James,  on  English  foreign 
policy,  64  ;  on  trial  of  Hardy,  &c, 
86  ;  letter  on  the  evils  of  Irish  ad- 
ministration, 137  ;  answer  to  Grat- 
tan's  letter.   145  ;  on  the  Regency  j 


question,  150  ;  on  political  liberty, 

165;  clear  ideas  of  Irish  policy,  21L 
212,  215  ;  on  the  Union,  216  ;  O'Con- 
nell's  reminiscences  of,  238 ;  and 
Prince  of  Wales,  363  ;  Mrs  Fitzher- 
bert  and  George  IV..  47(5. 
Fox,  Mr  Luke,  admirable  letter  of,  221- 
226. 

France  and  its  leaders  during  the 
Revolution,  62,  63;  described  socially 
by  Burke  67. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  sketch  of  his  life, 
94  :  on  a  debate  in  the  Lords,  05,  9b. 

Frascr's  Magazine  on  populating  Ire- 
land, xiv.  ;  on  governing  Ireland,  xv. 

Freeholders,  the  forty-shilling,  270. 

Friends,  Society  of,  and  O'Connell,  695, 
696  ;  and  the  Irish  famine,  748. 

Fry,  Mrs,  Archbishop  Manning  on,  330. 

Galwat,  address  to  Grattan  of  the 
men  of,  173. 

Georges,  the,  87,  88  ;  Ireland  under  the 
first  two,  373. 

George  II.  and  the  sermons  .at  court, 
89 ;  Ireland  under,  373. 

George  III.,  Mr  Harwood's  observations 
on,  15;  compared  with  Louis XVIII., 
65  ;  reign,  87  ;  his  advantages,  83  ; 
his  Toryism,  89  ;  his  first  speech  and 
Frederick  the  Great,  SO  ;  letter  to 
North,  104 ;  on  the  demands  of 
America,  105  ;  on  \  ublic  business, 
107;  on  Ireland,  107  ;  attack  un,  109, 
110  ;  on  Irish  marquises,  121  ;  on  his 
American  subjects,  122 ;  speech  of, 
on  state  of  England,  in  1792,  164  ; 
washes  his  hands,  243. 

George  IV.,  riotous  meetings  to  ad- 
dress, on  his  accession,  454-456; 
sails  for  Ireland,  and  dissipation  on 
the  voyage,  470  ;  his  progress  through 
Dublin  and  reception,  471-473  ;  end 
of  visit,  474;  and  O'Connell,  174, 
475  ;  and  Mr  Fox,  476  ;  tit  of  spleen, 
499;  and  Catholic  Emancipation, 
566,  591  ;  and  his  revenge  on  O'Con- 
nell, 591.    (See  Prince  of  Wades. ) 

Gladstone,  Mr,  and  his  newspapoi 
oracles,  xx.  ;  and  his  alleged  political 
motives,  xxviii. 

Glascock,  Toby,  and  O'Connell,  575. 

Gower,  Lord  Leveson,  O'Connell  on, 
586,  587. 

Grady,  Harry,  and  the  dragoon,  208  ; 

cross-examining  the  five  soldiers,  210. 
Grattan,   his  patriotism,   126 ;  early 


796 


INDEX. 


career,  127  ;  election  to  Parliament, 
127 ;  on  penal  code,  134,  135  ;  Fitz- 

patrick  on,  138  ;  success  of  his  ap- 
peal, 145  ;  his  address  on  repeal  of 
the  Act  of  6  Geo.  I.,  146  ;  rewarded 
for  his  services,  146  ;  letter  on  Irish 
affairs,  152-156  ;  on  bribery  in  the 
Government,  165, 166  ,  retirement  of, 
180  ;  O'Conu ell's  opinion  of,  236,  237  ; 
on  English  legislation  versus  divine, 
348,  349  ;  panegyric  on,  by  O'Connell, 
453,  454. 

Grattan,  Henry,  son  of  the  preceding, 
531. 

Gray,  Sir  J ohn,  713,  714 ;  his  narra- 
tive, 720-724. 

Grenville,  his  administration,  90  ;  and 
unfortunate  resolution,  91. 

Grievances,  Irish,  English  disregard 
and  treatment  of,  140,  141. 

Grose,  Captain,  and  the  butcher,  319, 
320. 


Hamilton,  Rev.  John,  his  schemes  and 

accomplices,  444-447. 
Hamilton,  Mr  Hans,  Jesuitaphobia  of, 

502. 

Hamilton,  Rev.  "W.,  case  of,  and  the 

poor  hen-girl,  322,  323. 
Hardy,  trial  of,  84,  85. 
Hare,  Mr,  and  O'Connell,  344,  345; 

and  Lord  Ffrench,  347. 
Hart,  Sir  Antony,  installation  as  Lord 

Chancellor,  489. 
Hawkesworth,  Parson,  and  his  lady, 

395. 

Henry,  Mr  Mitchell,  on  Justice  Keogh, 

xL,  xli. 
Hick  son,  Mr,  203. 

History,  its  repetitions  of  itself,  4,  588. 
Hierarchy,  the  Irish  Catholic,  loyalty 
of,  301. 

Hussey,  Mr,  on  English  hostility  to  the 
Catholic  petition,  364. 

Ignorance,  English,  of  Irish  affairs, 

vii.,  xxi. 

Independence,  Irish,  causes  of  the  ruin 

of,  140-148. 
Infallibility,  Protestant,  463,  468. 
Inns  in  the  good  old  times,  318,  319. 
Intolerance,  religious,  in  Ireland,  44, 

45. 

Ireland,  Fraser's  Magazine  on  the  de- 
population and  government  of,  xiv., 
xv.  ;  under  British  rule,  64-66,  82, 


83 ;  effects  on  policy  towards,  of 
American  Avar,  120 ;  state  of,  a  puzzle 
to  English  understandings.  142; 
letters  on,  142,  143 ;  her  real  and 
sham  wants,  143,  M4  ;  state  of,  in 
1795-96,  172,  173 ;  on  the  arrival  of 
Lord  Cornwallis,  181,  16,  187;  an 
appanage  of  England,  214,  215 ;  the 
upper  classes  in,  217  ;  ignorance  of 
its  state,  290  ;  division  the  curse  of, 
30o,  307  ;  a  party  battle-ground.  357, 
358  ;  J.  Wilson  Croker  on  govern- 
ment in,  358  ;  party  government  in, 
358-361  ;  under  the  first  two  Georges, 
373;  under  George  II.,  373;  under 
George  111.,  374,  375 ;  debt  to  O'Con- 
nell, 383  ;  pe  riodic  attempts  to  con- 
vert, 496  ;  new  era  in  history  of,  520; 
the  four  \i  ants  of,  655  ;  famine  blight, 
747,  748. 

Irelanders,  the  Young,  736,  738,  739, 
751. 

Irish,  the  Protestant  charge  against, 
xxviii.,  xxix.  ;  effect  of  trade  restric- 
tions on,  19 ;  loyalty  of,  34  ;  and  the 
King  of  England,  64  •  the  awaking 
of  their  national  spirit,  136  ;  and 
their  gri  vances,  140;  their  poli- 
tical mercies  and  duties,  349,  350 ; 
driven  desperate,  369 ;  Mr  Kohlon, 
370 ;  brutal  treatment  of,  by  the 
English,  538  ;  services  of,  neces- 
sary to  Britain,  539  ;  ingenuous  sus- 
ceptibility, 474;  unjustly  blamed, 
476 ;  their  fidelity  to  the  Holy  See, 
740. 

Irishmen,  the  United,  origin  of  the 
society,  161,  162  ;  original  principles, 
162;  Protestan'  leaders  of,  and  Hatho- 
lic  deputation,  164 ;  Mr  V  i  esford 
on,  170:  and  the  Frsnch  Government, 
175;  its  early  leaders,  180;  fifteen 
leaders  arrested,  181 ;  lesson  they 
read  O'Connell,  247. 

Jack  of  the  Roads,  208,  313,  314. 

Jesuits,  the,  their  distinction  among 
the  orders  of  the  Church,  427  ;  at 
Castle  Browne,  and  the  panic  their 
presence  created,  427,  428  ;  the  Duke 
of  Leicester  on,  429  ;  Peel  and,  430 ; 
the  present  Sir  Robert  and,  431. 

Johnson,  on  taxing  the  Americans,  97. 

Jones,  Paul,  his  capture  of  the  Drake 
sloop  of  war,  14,  15  ;  his  fleet  and 
crew,  15  ;  on  the  coast  of  Kerry,  15, 
lo;  treachery  to  two  of  his  crew, 


IXDEX. 


797 


16  ;  off  Flamborough  Head,  17  ;  the 

Irish,  father  and  son,  17. 
Judgment,  private,  right  of,  English 

theory  and  practice,  20. 
Justice,  administration  of,  in  Kerry 

40 ;  in  Ireland,  in  the  end  of  last 

century,  395-397. 

Kane,  Cousin,  113.  114. 

Kelburne,  Rev.  Mr,  his  strong  lan- 
guage, 162,  ]63. 

Keller,  Jerry,  his  encouragement  of 
the  young  O'Connell,  203;  and  the 
burglar.  203,  204  :  and  Baron  Smith, 
390 ;  and  Xorcott,  the  pretender,  390, 
391 ;  in  poverty,  391. 

Kenyon,  Lord.  376. 

Keoch,  John,  O'Connell  on,  307-309. 

Keogh,  Mr  Justice,  xxx.-xxxv. ;  Mr 
Mitchell  Henry  on  his  Gal  way  judg- 
ment, xl.,  xli. 

Kerry,  wrecking  and  smuggling  in,  18  ; 
ethics,  19  ;  justice  in,  40 ;  early  en- 
liihtenment  of,  49 ;  travelling  in, 
199,  200,  207  ;  roads  and  hotels.  200. 

Kilmainham.  meeting  at,  454  :  military 
called  in,  450  ;  counter  meeting,  456, 
457. 

Kingsborough,  Lord,  the  eccentric, 
23< . 


Ladies,  the.  who  locked  up  their  hus- 
bands, 506. 

land  Bill,  the  recent,  xxiii. 

Landlords,  the  absentee,  xxiii. 

Landor,  Walter  Savage,  letter  from 
rv<>v,nell,  403. 

Lamgan.  Dr,  letter  on  the  United  Irish- 
men, 175;  and  the  Veto,  00  3  on 
Quarantotti's  rescript,  426. 

Lawless,  Honest  Jack,  531;  and  the 
priest,  559. 

laws,  penal,  against  Catholics,  brief 
account  of,  22-24  ;  as  regards  right 
of  tutorship.  35  ;  Burke  on  relaxing, 
133;  G rat tan  on,  134,  135;  relaxa- 
tions under  George  EEL.  335. 

Tieadbetter,  Mrs,  testimony  of,  192-194. 

Lecky,  Mr.  essay  on  O'Connell,  viii.-x. 
Lees.  Sir  Harcouit,  the  absent-present, 
457. 

Legion,  the  thundering.  34. 

Leinster.  Puke  of,  his  declaration,  562. 

L'Estrange,  Rev.  Mr,  on  the  Catholic 

regiments,  51 JL 
Letters  of  O'Connell  to  Dr  MacHale, 


517.518,590-561,  609-611  613  (Tfl 
622,  62S,  635-639,  642-044,'  04<>'  (Ux 

649,  651-655,  658-662,  6  5,  666  670 
6/2,  673,  674,  678,  699-701,  741-746  ; 
from  Dr  MacHale,  633,  634,  644-646 

650,  651,  662-665,  673. 
Lieutenant,  the  Lord,  of  Ireland,  137 

138.  ' 
Londonderry,  Lord,  on  O'Connell  and 

his  crew,  612,  616. 
Louis  XVI. ,    his   heroic  demeanour 

under  insult,  68. 
Louvain,  college  at,  71. 
Lowe,  Mr,  on  the  Irish  fisheries, 

a  poor  Irish  fisherman, 

speech  at  Glasgow,  xiii. 
Lynch,  John,  and  Usher,  35,  36. 
Lyndhurst,  Lord,  on  the  Irish,  617  i 

his  descent,  617. 


xii. 


Macaulay  on  O'Connell's  trial,  718. 
Maccarthy.  poem  on  the  incarceration 
of  O'Connell  and    the  Traversers, 
727-729 ;    poem  on   the  death  of 
O'Connell,  772-774. 
MacCracken,  brother  and  sister,  and 
the  faithful  Catholic  domestic,  161 
162. 

MacHale,  Dr,  first  letter  from  O'Con- 
nell, 51S  ;  his  family,  520  ;  professor 
of  dogmatics  at  Maynooth,  521 ;  ap- 
pointed coadjutor  Bishop  of  Killala, 
his  letters,  lectures,  and  learning, 
522  ;  still  a  tower  of  strength  to  Ire- 
land, 523 ;  his  health  proposed  by 
O'Connell.  618  ;  speech  on  the  occa- 
sion, 618-622. 
Magee,  John,  trial  of,  40S-419. 
Magna  Charta,  the  boast  of  England, 
537. 

Mahon,  O'Gorman,  531 ;  in  the  House, 
532 ;  and  the  Sheriff  of  Clare,  549, 
550. 

Mahouy,  Denis,  and  Father  O'Grady, 
43. 

Manning,  Archbishop,  speech  of,  at 
International  Union  Congress,  330. 

Martlev,  Mr,  protected  by  O'ConnelL 
251,  "252. 

Mary,  Black,  91. 

Matthew,  Father,  and  Repeal,  680. 
Maynooth,  proposal  to  establish,  171, 
172;  question  of  admitting  lay  stu- 


minutes  of  conversation 
between  Abbot  and  Kil- 


dents,  2't  o 
regarding, 
warden,  276.  277. 
Meath,  the  Protestant  Bishop  of,  lettex 


798 


INDEX. 


on  the  Catholic  clergy  and  Govern- 
ment. 302,  303. 
Melbourne  Cabinet,  the,  and  O'Con- 
nell,  612. 

Memory,  the  glorious  and  immortal, 
toast  in  honour  of,  1G0,  481. 

Miley,  Dr,  on  O'Connell's  last  forty 
hours,  764  ;  in  Home  with  his  heart, 
767 ;  on  public  sympathy  in  Rome, 
768. 

Military,  the  excesses  of,  182-184,  189. 

Mirabeau,  prophetic  utterance  of,  62. 

Mitchel,  John,  736,  737  ;  on  the  Liber- 
ator after  his  release,  737. 

Moira,  Lord,  O'Connell  on,  36S. 

Montalembert,  Count  de,  ami  O'Con- 
nell, 583,  584  ;  Mrs  Oliphant's  Life 
of,  584,  594  ;  and  O'Connell  in  his  last 
days,  763. 

Montrose,  Duke  of,  on  Ireland,  478. 

Moore,  on  the  Prince  of  Wales,  303. 

Morgan,  Crosbie,  expensiveuess  and 
death,  392. 

Murders,  agrarian,  369,  370. 

Myers,  Mr,  of  Roscommon,  his  conver- 
sion, and  the  grounds  of  it,  24,  25. 

Napier,  Colonel,  on  O'Connell,  628, 

629. 

Napoleon  I.   and  English  smugglers, 

19  ;  O'Connell  on,  327. 
Neilson,  liberal  proposal  of,  161;  on 

the  state  of  the  Catholic  question, 

163. 

Nichol,  Mrs  Professor,  her  recollec- 
tions of  O'Connell,  696,  697  ;  her  col- 
lection of  O'Connell's  autographs, 
697. 

North,  Lord,  87. 

Norbury,  Lord,  and  his  racket-court, 

249;  and  the  butcher's  boy,  250; 

O'Connell's    description    of,    250 ; 

bearded  by  O'Connell,  251,  252;  and 

Barry's  trial,  407. 
Norbury,  Lord,  the  murder  of,  655,  656. 
Norfolk,  the  Duke  of.   the  renegade 

Catholics  and  Dr  Mil  tier.  425,  426. 
No-I'opery  cry,  the,  360,  361. 

O'Brtex,  Denis,  and  the  judge,  40,  41. 
O'Brien,  W.  Smith,  his  first  appearance, 

573,  574  ;    and    Steele,    574,  and 

O'Gorman  Mahon,  575. 
O'Conal,  John,  at  Au-hrim.  29,  30. 
O'Connell,  elan,  annals  of,  31. 
O'Connell,  Daniel,  his  pedigree,  6-8  ; 

his  father's  family,  8.  9;   kis  uncle 


Maurice,  9 ;  grandfather,  13,  '^1  ; 
father,  13,  14.  18;  childish  memo- 
ries, 18,  21  ;  affection  for  his  mother, 
26 ;  pride  of  family,  27-2!) ;  anec- 
dotes of  his  ancestors.  2!),  30  ;  date 
of  his  birth,  32;  natural  charader, 
36 ;  learning  the  alphabet,  37  ;  his 
first  schoolmaster,  37  ;  fondness  foj 
ballads,  41  ;  early  studies  and  arobv 
tion,  42;  a  boyish  dream  realised, 
42  ;  thoughts  when  ahoy  of  nine.  43  ; 
at  school,  44,  45  ;  recollections  of 
school  and  childhood,  4b"  ;  sent  to 
Liege,  46 ;  first  acquaintance  with 
England,  46;  at  Lou  vain,  47  ;  at  St 
Omer,  47,  49  ;  early  hatred  of  Eng- 
land, 4S,  49  ;  opinion  of  Dr  Stapyl- 
ton,  51 ;  insulted  at  Douay,  51,  52  ; 
effect  on,  of  what  he  saw  under 
Reign  of  Terror,  52;  departure  from 
France,  68 ;  early  companions  ;  69, 
70  ;  schoolboy  quarrel,  70,  71  ;  a~nd 
the  Church,  72  ;  on  the  French  Revo- 
lution, 73;  interview  with  Owen, 
74 ;  at  Lincoln's  Fnn,  75 ;  in  Chis- 
wick,  75,  76  ;  originally  Tory,  77,  S3, 

84  ;  conversion  to  Liberal  opinions, 

85  ;  time  of  birth,  98  ;  witnesses  the 
attack  on  George  III.,  109,  110; 
fondness  for  the  chase,  111  ;  his 
temperate  habits,  111,  112;  and 
Cousin  Kane,  113  ;  attack  of  fever, 
114-116;  fiist  visit  to  Dublin,  116, 
152,  159;  a  United  Irishman,  176; 
joins  the  Lawyers'  Artillery,  176  ; 
early  patriotism  in  1798,  177-179  ; 
his  account  of  his  illness,  197,  198; 
narrative  of  his  start  on  his  first  cir- 
cuit, 199-201  ;  first  visit  to  Limerick, 
201  ;  his  forte,  201  ;  cross-examining 
a  witness,  201,  202  ;  quality  of  his 
intellect,  202  ;  and  the  pint  of  vvhiskv, 
202;  and  Jerry  Keller,  203;  hia 
lesson  in  cow- stealing,  207  ;  travel- 
ling to  London,  207  ;  posting  to 
Dublin,  207,  208;  Grady  and  the 
dragoon.  208,  209;  first  speech,  210, 
229-232,  234;  liberality,  234;  ex- 
tenuation of  his  rough  outspoken- 
ness, 234,  236  ;  early  personal  ap- 
pearance 236  ;  on  Grattan  and  his 
son,  236,  237 ;  on  Pitt  and  Fox, 
238;  modesty,  238;  on  the  Union, 
2 39  ;  chivalrous  conduct  on  duty, 
241  ;  a  freemason,  2-15,  216 ;  gloomy 
mood,  which  proved  electric,  247  ; 
lesson  in  prudence,  247  ;  saved  by 


INDEX. 


793 


his  watch,  2-18  ;  the  ground  of  his 
•u.cess  at  the  1  »;i r,  248,  250  ;  and  the 
will  case,  249;  bearding  Lord  JSfor- 
hurv.  251,  252  ;  and  the  confirmed  of- 
fender,  252.  253;  and  thegoat-stealer, 
253  ;  and  the  alleged  bankrupt,  254  ; 
M  circuit-,  257-259:  and  Sergeant! 
Lefroy,  250,  2(i0;  bin  bar-anecdotes,  ! 
2ti0  *_04 ;  professional  success,  205  -  | 
fond  or  children,  200  ;  marriage,  207  ;  i 
his  search  for  nikes,  207,  208  ;  i 
his  chief  political  work,  270  ;  com-  I 
prehensive  intellect,  273,  274  ;  aud 
tlie  Ireiarchv.  274  ;  on  emancipation, 
27S;  on  khe'Vetn,  27S  ;  on  \V.  Pole, 
2>0.  281  ;  on  Marquis  of  Wellesley, 
281:  on  Castlereagh,  281,  282;  on 
the  '''hitches,"  282  ;  and  the  agita- 
tor-, 283,  284  ;  strikes  a  new  key- 
note, 28*> ;  rugged  energy,  direct- 
ne->,  and  breadth,  2S'\  287;  ex- 
horts to  united  effort,  288,  289; 
•peech  on  the  Union,  294-207  ;  uses 
the  words  "Irish  king,"  297;  re- 
commends publicity,  3C4;  on  the 
Edin'iuriik  Review  and  William  Cob- 
bet  t,  305,  300;  honest  denunciation, 
300  ;  on  the  curse  of  Ireland.  3G0, 
307:  attains  to  leaileiship,  307;  on 
John  Keoch,  307,  308  ;  on  the  case 
of  Spence,  315.  310  ;  in  Limerick,  317, 
818,  359;  his  fun,  318:  affair  of 
honour  with  Magnith,  320,  321 ;  ap- 
pearance, 321  ;  fame  as  a  barrister, 
321  ;  ami  case  of  the  poor  hen  girl, 
3J2.  323  ;  speech  at  Limerick  in  1812, 
334-330;  felicity  of  expression,  320, 
327  :  on  Irish  soldiers  and  Napoleon, 
327  :  address  from  Dingle,  327,  32S  : 
rei  lv,  328.  329  ;  speech  at  the  Catho- 
lic Protestant  banquet,  330,  331  ; 
gnt  upeecli  at  meeting  to  propose  an 
address  to  Prince  of  Wales.  334-330  ; 
second  speech,  338-340  ;  on  Welling- 
ton, 359  ;  a  main  object  with,  340  : 
and  Father  Dan,  350,  352;  on  the 
Uuion,  353  ;  vote  of  thanks  in  Cork, 
$3  ;  on  Catholic  and  Protestant 
pledges,  305  300  ;  on  the  assassina- 
tion °of  Mr  Perceval,  300,  307;  and 
the  Irish  widow,  307  ;  congratula- 
tions on  the  spread  of  liberal  ideas, 
371  :  on  the  Veto,  371.  372  ;  on  secu- 
rities 372  :  on  the  Orange  Society, 
375-381  ;  affection  for  his  wife,  382  : 
devotion  to  Ireland.  383;  and  the 
English  Catholics,  3S3,  384 ;  style  of 


his  speeches,  3S4 ;  Shiel's  sketch  of, 
385-389  ;  in  his  study,  385,  38(3 ; 
about  court,  380,  387  ;  appearance, 
388  ;  his  democratic  roll,  38s,  5-9  ; 
as  a  raconteur,  389,  3i)0  ;  and  the 
bank-clerk,  3  !3,  394  ;  at  Darrynano 
-out  on  hunt,  at  the  table.  400- 
402  ;  letter  to  Landor,  403  ;  power  of 
apprehension,  story  illustrative  of, 
404  :  and  his  Orange  clieut,  404,  405  ; 
and  Mr  Lees,  405 ;  examination  of 
Burrows  Campbell,  and  defence  of 
Fitzpatrick,  407,  40S ;  defence  of 
Magee,  409-419  ;  on  the  panic  against 
the  Jesuits  of  Castle  Browne,  427- 
429  ;  public  thanks  and  presentations, 
432  ;  offends  D'Esterre,  436  :  a  man 
of  peace,  437  ;  correspondence  with 
D'Esterre,  438,  439  ;  duel  with  D'Es- 
terre. 441-443;  quarrel  with  Peel, 
447,  448  ;  panegyric  on  G rattan,  453, 
454;  at  Kilmainham,  455-457  ;  pas 
toral  letter  for  1821,  458,  459;  and 
Shiel,  459,  400  ;  and  Catholic  rights, 
40 L  ;  his  letters,  40^  ;  analysis  of  Mr 
Plunket's  bills,  402-405;"  presents 
George  IV.  with  a  laurel  crown,  474  ; 
cursed  l»y  the  King,  475  ;  opinion  of 
George  IV.,  475  ;  and  John  Flood, 
4S8 ;  joke  at  Plunket's  expense 
about  Hart,  4S9  ;  forms  the  Catholic 
Association,  490;  secret  of  his  suc- 
cess, 4(J2  ;  dexterous  and  desperate 
effort  to  make  up  a  quorum  495  :  at- 
tempt to  prosecute.  498  ;  home  joys 
and  sorrows,  4!»9 ;  in  Londc  n.  504  ; 
under  examination,  505  ;  returns  to 
Ireland,  507;  increasing  popnlarity, 
507,  508  :  attack  on.  for  his  conduct 
towards  the  forty-shilling  freeholders, 
509  ;  his  good-humoured  defence, 
510;  going  special,  511  ;  at  Wexford. 
511;  and  Mr  Leyne,  511;  and  the 
formation  of  the  new  association, 
512;  commencement  of  cor.espon- 
dence  with  Dr  MacHale,  first  letter, 
517,  518  ;  and  the  Waterford  elec- 
tion, 540,  541 :  address  to  the  elec- 
tors of  Clare  county.  542-540  :  on  the 
hustimrs.  550:  at  the  poll,  551;  re- 
turn, 552;  chaired  at  Ennis,  55S  ;  an 
irritation  to  the  authorities,  5<i0  ;  king 
to  four  millions  501  ;  refusi  il  n  seat 
in  the  House  507;  pleads  his  right  to 
sit,  5CS  ;  refuses  to  take  the  oath  of 
supremacy,  509  ;  writes  a  second  ad 
dress  to  the  electors,  509  ;  the  Tuna 


800 


INDEX. 


on  his  exclusion,  570  ;  high  spring  of 
action,  571 ;  reception  in  Clare,  572  ; 
bis  tact,  573  ;  and  the  forty-shilling 
freeholders,  573 :  and  Toby  Glascock, 
575  ;  re-election  for  Clare,  575 ;  seeks 
rest,  but  cannot  find  it,  57G ;  and 
accused  Catholics  of  Doneraile,  576- 
578  •  a  voracious  eater,  577  ;  and  the 
Beauforts  ,  of  Waterford,  581,  582  ; 
letters  to  the  people  of  Ireland,  583- 
585  ;  nominated  King  of  Belgium, 
583  ;  and  Montalembert,  583,  584  ; 
his  motto,  585  ;  a  power  in  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament,  585  ;  O'Doherty  and 
Lord  Leveson  Gower,  586,  587  ;  and 
George  IV.  again.  591  ;  and  the 
Whigs,  592 ;  arrest  of,  598  ;  and  the 
Hervey  ricter,  C02  ;  his  parliamen- 
tary rivals,  603:  his  household  brig- 
ade, 604  ;  on  the  Whigs,  604 ;  and 
the  reporters,  605  ;  moves  for  repeal, 
606 ;  at  Westminster  Abbey,  606, 
607  ;  at  Canterbury,  607  ;  on  West- 
minster and  St  Paul's,  608  ;  influence 
in  the  House,  611,  612  ;  and  the 
Melbourne  Cabinet,  612 ;  and  Dis- 
raeli, 613-615  ;  and  Mr  Raphael, 
616  ;  at  a  banquet  at  Tuam,  618  ;  re- 
turned for  Kilkenny,  628  ;  makes  a 
retreat,  629 ;  reception  at  Mount 
Melleray  Abbey,  632  ;  and  Mr  Vil- 
lars  Stuart,  633 ;  entertained  in 
London,  639  ;  speech  on  the  occasion, 
640 ;  refuses  the  Chief  Baron's  seat, 
64 L  ;  on  tiie  four  wrongs  of  Ireland, 
655  ;  and  the  Tories,  656  ;  proposes 
repeal,  660  ;  founds  the  Repeal  Asso- 
ciation, 678  ;  in  1840  and  1843,  680  ; 
and  his  beagles,  681  ;  at  Cork  and 
Limerick,  681  ;  his  travelling  com- 
panions on  Repeal,  682  ;  at  Ennis  and 
Kilkenny,  682,  683  ;  a  month's  Repeal 
engagements,  683;  at  Mullingar,  683  ; 
might  nave  been  king,  684  ;  on  the 
franchise  in  Ireland.  684  ;  in  Belfast. 
685  ;  unseated  at  Dublin,  686  ;  and 
steam,  687;  elected  Lord  Mayor,  687; 
first  day  in  court,  688  ;  and  his  offi- 
cial chain,  683  ;  defence  against  Lord 
Shrewsbury,  688-690;  on  the  threat 
of  Peel,  692  ;  at  Tara,  693  :  at  Mul- 
Laghmast,  694  ;  fame  on  the  Conti- 
nent, 694,  695;  in  Fliigel's  Dic- 
tion-try, 695  ;  and  the  money  market, 
6'.>.~>  ;  and  the  Society  of  Friends,  695, 
696  ;  daily  habits,  697  ;  at  Coventry, 
6C«S  ;  member  of  the  Order  of  St 


Joseph  and  Mary,  698  ;  mysterious 
proclamation  and  counter-proclama- 
tion of  a  meeting  at  Clontarf.  705, 
706  ;  rumours  of  an  indictment — 
shows  signs  of  fear,  706  ;  dread 
of  imprisonment,  707  ;  indictment 
served,  707  ;  address  to  the  peo- 
ple of  Ireland,  708  ;  and  Joseph 
Sturge,  709;  goes  down  to  Dairy- 
nane,  709  ;  returns  to  Dublin,  710  ; 
is  escorted  to  the  trial,  711  ;  at  the 
bar,  715  ;  in  the  House,  716  ;  escort- 
ed to  prison,  720  ;  in  prison,  720-724 ; 
gives  and  refuses  audiences,  729-731; 
receives  addresses,  73J,  732  ;  free, 
733  ;  concludes  a  novona,  737  ;  ova- 
tion and  rejoicings  on  his  release,  73o, 
736  ;  first  troubles  of  his  old  age,  736; 
and  Mr  Porter,  739;  and  the  Papal 
brief,  740  ;  grief  for  death  of  Davis, 
747  ;  at  Cash  el,  747  ;  on  the  scientific 
famine  commission, 747, 748;  attacked 
in  the  Times,  748  ;  and  the  Duke  of 
Cambridge's  suggestion,  749 ;  leaves 
Ireland,  750  ;  hears  bad  news  from 
home,  750  ;  seriously  ill,  751 ;  in  Eng- 
land, 752  ;  goes  through  France,  753  ; 
his  appearance  and  condition  at  this 
period,  753,  754  ;  public  sympathy, 
754,  7o5  ;  at  Genoa,  755  ;  his  attend- 
ant, 756  ;  last  days,  756-762  ;  Mon- 
talemhert's  condolencies,  763  ;  Dr 
Miley's  account  of,  763,  764  ;  account 
of  Times'  correspondent,  764  ;  death, 
765  ;  the  faithful  round  his  bier,  766  ; 
his  heart,  767 ;  funeral  obsequies, 
767,  768;  funeral  eloge,  769-771  ; 
remains  sent  home,  771 ;  Maccarthy'a 
poem,  772-774. 

O'Connell,  Maurice,  47  ;  at  school,  51. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  Count,  10-13,  54- 
58. 

O'Connell,  John,  of  Ashtown,  30. 

O'Connell,  John,  son  of  the  Liberator, 
707,  712,  727,  751. 

O'Connell,  Morgan,  family  of,  8,  9,  13, 
14,  18  ;  and  the  Crelaghs,  38,  39. 

O'Connell,  Morgan,  son  of  the  Libera- 
tor, and  D'Israeli,  614,  615. 

O'Connell,  uncle  Maurice,  9  ;  and  his 
nephews'  education,  50,  51 ;  and 
politics,  247. 

O'Connell,  Mrs,  265.  266,  3S2,  383. 

O'Connor,  Mr  Fergus,  and  the  piper  to 
pay,  604. 

O'Connor,  the  schoolmaster,  and  Judge 
Fmucane.  2u8,  269. 


INDEX. 


801 


O'Gorman,  Mr  Purcell,  anecdotes  of. 
205,  206. 

O'Grad  v,   Father,  anecdotes  of,   43 ; 

capital  charge  against,  44. 
O'Grady,  Judgo,  anecdotes  of,  205,  205. 
O'Grady,  Standish,  at  the  play,  394. 
O'Hagan.  Mr  (now  Lord),  713. 
Orangemen,  the  origin,  principles,  and 

early  outrages  of,  172,  173,  313,  314, 

310  :  the  merely  political  existence 
of,  309  ;  'ncrea.se  and  intolerance,  370, 

311  ;  0*Conncll  on  the  system,  375; 
on  the  origin  of  the  system,  376,  377  ; 
original  oath,  378  ;  character  of  the 
association,  379-381  j  came  off  with 
the  lion's  share,  478  ;  patronised  by 
Wellesley,  478  ;  favourite  toast,  478*; 
denunciation  of  the  Pope  and  O'Con- 
nell, 479  ;  and  Wellesley,  479  ;  intimi- 
dation of  Government,  480  :  intoler- 
ance of,  4S1 ;  their  political  ascend- 
ency shaken,  541  ;  impossible  to 
tranquillise,  595. 

Ostrich  egg,  the,  laid  in  America,  100. 
Outrages,  agrarian,  the  priests  to  blame, 
444. 

Owen,  Robert,  interview  with  O'Con- 
nell,  74. 

Paine,  Thomas,  to  the  memory  of, 
160. 

Pahnerston,  Lord,  on  O'Connell,  505  ; 
on  the  Bonis  gathering,  548 ;  on 
granting  emancipation,  587  ;  on  Wel- 
lington and  the  Catholic  question, 
590. 

Parliament,  the  Irish,  its  composition 
and  interests,  117,  118;  address  of, 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  150,  151  ;  in 
articulo  mortis,  152 ;  a  simulacrum 
merely,  212,  213. 

Parsons,,  and  old  Leonard,  6S2. 

Parsons.  Mr  his  dislike  to  attorneys, 
263,  264. 

Peasantry,  the,  and  the  landlords,  370. 

Pease,  Joseph,  and  O'Connell,  696. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  Dr  Kenny  and  the 
Jesuits,  429,  430,  432  ;_  threatened 
duel  with  O'Connell,  447,  448 ;  and 
his  armed  constabulary,  449  ;  on  the 
Irish,  603  ;  in  office,  6S0 ;  and  Re- 
peal, 692  ;  fear  of  insurrection,  740, 
741. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert  (the  present  baronet), 
the  Communists  and  the  Jesuits,  431. 
Peers,  the  Irish  Catholic,  270. 
Pennefather,  Baron,  576,  578. 


Pennefather,  Chief -Justice,  711,  712. 
1  715,718.  ^ 
Perceval.  Mr,  and  Catholic  Assr  ciation, 
332,  342_;  O'Connell  on.  335;  p.dicy, 
336,  337  ;  his  curious  line  of  argu- 
ment, 337,  338  ;  assassination,  361, 
362;  O'Connell  on  the  event,  366. 
367. 

Perrin,  Judge,  712,  715,  718. 
Philpotts,  Henry,  on  the  Clare  election, 
I    557,  558  ;  suggests  a  wily  plan,  558. 
Physician,   the,  and  his  unfortunate 

patients,  405. 
Pitt,  Mr,  hi?  Irish  policy,  166,  167, 
170  ;  and  the  Union,  211 ;  and  partiei 
in  Ireland,  213  ;  and  the  masses  in 
Ireland,  214  ;  one  object  of  his  policy, 
214  ;  and  the  upper  classes  in  Ire- 
land. 217  ;  O'Connell's  reminiscences 
of,  23S  :  duplicity,  244. 
Plunket,  Lord,  and  the  kites,  261. 
Pluuket,  Mr,  and  the  Union,  227,  228; 
and  the  Catholics,  460,  461  ;  his  bills 
criticised,  4ti2-465 ;  looking  sore  at 
heart,  489. 
Pole,  Wellesley,   O'Connell  on,  2S0, 
281 ;  attack  on  the  Catholic  Associa- 
tion, 331,   332  ;  interference,  333  j 
O'Connell  on,  335,  336,  339. 
Politicians,  589. 

Politics  and  religion,  xxvii.,  xxviii. 
Pope,  the,  authority  of,  xxviii. 
Poperv,  official  account  of  its  main 

tenets,  428. 
Portland,  Duke  of,  his  administration, 

135  ;  his  concessions,  145,  146, 
Power.  Baron,  suicide  of,  392. 
!  Press,  the  bribery  of,  148,  149. 
i  Protestants,  the,  and  religious  liberty, 
132. 

Purcell,  the  inexorable,  493. 

Quaraxtotti's  rescript,  426. 
Question,  the  Education,  xxx.  ;  th« 
Regency,  149,  150. 

Ray,  Mr,  534. 

Rebellion,  the  Irish,  its  nature  and 

causes,  01-67  :  and  the  revolutionary 
spirit,  69  ;  a  Protestant  movement, 
122  ;  the  embers  of.  20S. 
Rent,  the,  collecting.  -:!>•">. 
Repeal,  movement  for,  '-'89  ;  first  agita- 
tion for,  292  ;  and  the  upper  classes, 
292  ;  a  national  movement,  292,  293  ; 
j    and  the  trades'  corpora  tion,  293 ;  one 
3  B 


802 


INDEX. 


bar  to,  29G,  297;  petition  for,  297, 

21J0. 

Repeal  Association  founded,  first 
meeting,  078;  discouraging  com- 
mencement, 079 ;  success  after- 
wards, 080  ;  membership  and  Volun- 
teer card,  090,  091. 

Representation,  parliamentary,  in  Ire- 
land, 127  :  in  theory  and  in  fact  540. 

Rescript,  the  Papal,  and  the  Irish,  740. 

Resolutions,  the  "witchery,"  3H4  ; 
O'Counell's  speech  on  the,  36G-30S. 

Review.  Edinburgh,  on  the  Catholic  reli- 
gion, 74  ;  O'Conuell  on,  305  ;  on  the 
Association,  504. 

Review,  Dublin,  041,  012,  G4G-648. 

Revolution,  the  French,  and  the  Irish 
Rebellion,  compared  and  contrasted, 
01-07:  O'Connell  on,  73;  anniver- 
sary of,  1791,  100. 

Rhuiccini  MS.  the,  on  Kerry,  49. 

Riots,  the  Gordon,  100. 

Riots,  Anti-Tithe,  and  the  military, 
001  :  trial  of  rioters  at  Hervey,  002. 

Rockingham,  his  administration,  91  ; 
and  address  to  Prince  of  Wales,  150, 
151. 

Roden,  Lord,  moves  for  a  select  com- 
mittee, 057. 

Rosse,  Earl  of,  of  the  one  idea,  302. 

Russell,  Lord  John,  on  the  Western 
Powers,  in  1793,  105  ;  on  the  trial  of 
O'Conuell,  717. 

Ryan,  the  sergeant,  aad  O'Connell, 
031. 

Sandwich,  Lord,  on  the  Americans,  93. 

Saurin,  Mr,  and  the  Union,  227;  and 
Mr  Scully,  400,  -407  ;  his  prosecution 
of  Magee,  and  O'Connell's  reply,  408- 
419. 

Schools,  Charter,  their  establishment 
and  character,  33-35. 

Schoolmasters,  the  hedge  and  itiner- 
ant, 35. 

Scully,  Mr,  4CG. 

S.  ackleton,  Mr,  and  his  establishment, 

191,  192. 
Shanes  Castle  regulations,  112. 
Shea  res.  the  two,  and  their  republican 

fervour,  08,  09  ;   their  patriotism, 

09;  fatuity,  70. 
Shelley  on  Emancipation.  348,  349. 
Sheridan,  C,  letter  of,  129. 
Sheridan,  Dr,  342,  343. 
Shied,  attack  on  O'Connell.  4r>9,  460; 

oo-operation  with  O'Connell  in  pro- 


jecting the  Catholic  Association,  490 , 
his  caution,  •  492  ;  speech,  513,  514; 
his  physique,  eloquence,  and  appear- 
ance, 529;  treasonable  speech,  530; 
under  a  cloud  for  a  time,  530 ;  a 
repealei-,  530  ;  at  the  Clare  election, 
553-555;  and  Lord  Althorpe,  000; 
"  Richard 's  himself  again,"  710. 

Shrewsbury,  Lord,  attack  on  O'Con- 
nell, 088. 

Sidmouth,  Lord,  on  O'Connell,  507. 

Sirr,  Major,  and  O'Conuell,  177,  178  ; 
and  anti-union  meeting  in  the  Dub- 
lin Exchange,  229,  230. 

Society,  the  Precursor,  048. 

Speech,  the  King's,  for  1825,  499,  500; 
for  1829,  and  the  sensation  it  pro- 
duced, 504,  505. 

Spence,  Patrick,  case  of,  315,  310. 

"Squire,  the  Sham,"  143,  144. 

Standard,  the,  on  the  Pope,  and  his 
resort  to  prayer,  431. 

Stapylton,  Dr,  and  the  young  O'Con- 
nells,  51. 

Star,  Brunswick,  and  O'Connell,  571. 
Steam,  and  the  Irish  question.  087. 
Steele,  the  head  pacificator,  5^2,  533  ; 

goes  down  to  Limerick  with  white 

flag,  083  ;  courts  prosecution,  707. 
Sturge,  Joseph,  approval  of  O'Connell, 

at  the  time  of  his  indictment,  709. 
Sully,  maxim  of,  on  national  revolti, 

07. 

Suspected,  list  of  the,  182. 

Tara,  Repeal  meeting  at,  693. 

Tenants,  the  Irish,  xxiv.,  217. 

Thiers,  M.,  O'Connell  on,  73. 

Times,  the,  on  O'Connell's  exclusion 
from  the  House,  570 ;  and  O'Connell 
in  1829,  581,582;  attacks  O'Connell, 
748. 

Tone,  Wolfe,  Shiel  on,  530. 

Tooke,  J.  Horne,  85. 

Trade,  Irish,  jealousy  of,  122, 123,  125; 

"Free,  or  this,"  120;  with  colonies 

declared  free,  120. 
Travelling  in  1780  between  Kerry  and 

Dublin,  318. 
Traversers,  the  indictment  of,  708 ; 

sketches  of,  712-715 ;    escorted  to 

prison,  719 ;  in  prison,  720-724,  720, 

7^8. 

Trials,  the  monster,  special  jury  at, 
709,710;  commencement,  710;  the 
judges,  the  Traversers,  and  the  coun- 
sel, 711-715  ;  conclusion  and  verdict, 


INDEX. 


715.  716;  sensation  at  the  result,  i 
716  ;  the  sentence,  718,  719  ;  judg- 
ment reversed,  733  ;  the  arrival  of 
the  news  in  Dublin.  733. 
Union,  the,  formally  declared,  211 ; 
supposed  advantages  of.  214,  215; 
and  the  clergy,  220 ;  facilities  for  ef- 
fecting, 223;  Lord  de  Clifford  on,  223  ; 
and  the  bar,  226,  228  ;  A.  Young  on 
its  probable  effects.  235;  O'Conuell 
on,  239,  294-297,  353;  social  effects 
of,  289-291  ;  how  secured,  291,  294 ; 
after  ten  years,  293;  its  real  cause, 
293  ;  deceitful  nature,  295,  296. 

Vandaleur,  Mr,  and  his  tenants,  552. 
Vendee,  La,  during  the  Revolution, 
65,  66. 

Ventura,  Father,  eloge  on  O'Connell, 
709-771. 

Veto,  the,  object  in  pressing,  276  ;  the 
Irish  bishops  and,  277  ;  English 
Catholics  and,  277,  278  ;  O'Connell 
on,  278-280,  371,  372  ;  resolutions  of 
the  bishops  on,  299,  300  ;  its  one  ob- 
ject, 301. 

Volunteers,  the,  in  Belfast  and  the 
Government,  124,  129,  130  ;  spirited 
resolutions  of,  131,  132 ;  feared  by 
Government,  146,  147;  suppressed, 
147  ;  uniforms  of,  176. 

Wales,  Prince  of,  address  to,  of  Irish 
Parliament,  150  ;  of  the  Catholics, 
334  ;  supplanted  by  Pitt,  335  ;  Catho- 
lic faith  in,  362  ;  O'Connell'*  opinion 


of,  362 ;  Fox  and,  363 ;  Moore  on, 

363.    (See  George  IV.) 
Warren,  Sir  Peter,  on  the  Americans, 
93. 

Washington,  on  the  colonists.  95. 
Waterford,  the  election,  ami  its  effects, 
540,  541 ;  Lord,  and  his  huntsman, 
541. 

Watson  trial,   tho,   and  the  English 

jury,  449,  450. 
Wedderburn,  93. 

Wellesley,  Marquis,  O'Connell  on, 
281,  324;  appointed  Viceroy,  477  ; 
professed  friend  of  the  Catholics, 
patron  of  the  Orangemen,  478;  his 
marriage,  478;  and  the  Beefsteak 
Club,  479,  480;  his  life  threatened, 
480.  (See  Wellington  ) 
Wellington,  regulations  for  general 
officers  in  Ireland,  351,  352  ;  and  Dr 
Doyle,  528  ;  ou  the  Catholic  troops, 
556,  557  ;  his  letter  to  Dr  Curtis, 
562,  563,  564  ;  alleged  policy,  564 ; 
on  Catholic  Emancipation,  587,  588. 
Westminster,    Canterbury,    and  St 

Paul's,  6i  6-C08. 
Westmoreland,   "  the  profligate  and 
j    unprincipled,"  414,  415. 
William  III.,  and  his  milliner,  369. 
William  IV.  and  his  anti-Irish  fervour, 

604.  . 
Wilson,    Professor,     charge  agamut 
O'Connell,  629. 

York,  Duke  of,  his  "so-help-me-God" 
I    speech,  499,  500. 


TBS  END. 


DATE  DUE 


SEP  5 

!  9  2006 

UNIVERSITY  PRODUCTS,  INC.  #859-5503 


